India Is Now the Engine of Asia Pacific Office Growth. Here's What CBRE's 2026 Outlook Proves

A commentary analysis of CBRE Research's 2026 Asia Pacific Real Estate Market Outlook, and what it reveals about India's growing weight in regional commercial real estate.

A Report Backed by CBRE’s Investor and Leasing Sentiment Surveys

Every January, CBRE Research publishes its Asia Pacific Real Estate Market Outlook, a forecast built on proprietary transaction data, occupier sentiment surveys, and its annual Investor Intentions Survey across the region. This year's edition carries a theme that says a lot on its own: "Recalibrate and Innovate."

The headline finding: medium-term supply is projected to contract across sectors, even as investment appetite continues to strengthen, with net buying intentions reaching 17% in 2026.. Buried inside that regional story is a more specific one. India isn't a footnote in this report. It's one of the main characters.

Growth Is Slowing for the Region. India Is Still Outrunning It.

CBRE forecasts Asia Pacific GDP growth to slow to 3.9% in 2026, down from 4.3% in 2025, with mainland China, India, and Japan all seeing softer expansion than last year. That sounds like a downgrade until you look at the comparison set: India remains one of the fastest growing large economies in the region, with private consumption expected to hold steady on soft inflation and a healthy labour market.

The more telling structural shift sits underneath the headline number. Across every sector CBRE tracks, medium term supply is projected to contract, a real reversal from the oversupply conditions that have weighed on landlords for the past few years. Combine that with limited room left for yield compression as rate cuts wind down, and CBRE's own conclusion is blunt: income growth, not cap rate movement, will be what separates winning portfolios from the rest in 2026.

Office Just Became Investors' Top Pick for the First Time Since 2020. 

This is the single most important data point in the entire report for Indian commercial real estate. According to CBRE's 2026 Asia Pacific Investor Intentions Survey, office overtook industrial and logistics as investors' most preferred sector for the first time in six years.

India's fingerprints are all over that shift:

• Of the 61.3 million sq. ft. of new Grade A office supply forecast across Asia Pacific in 2026, more than three quarters will land in India and mainland China alone
• Bangalore is set to add 12.1 million sq. ft. of Grade A office supply, one of the largest city-level additions in the region, with demand continuing to be supported by Global Capability Centres
• Mumbai's BKC micro market is forecast to post double digit rental growth again in 2026, one of the strongest rates anywhere in Asia Pacific, driven by scarce new premium supply and rising demand from flexible space operators specifically
• On the regulatory front, CBRE flags India's new Small and Medium REITs (SM REITs) framework as a fresh capital channel that could meaningfully widen the investor base for Indian real estate over the next few years

For anyone in the flexible or managed workspace segment, that Mumbai BKC detail is worth sitting with. CBRE didn't just say rents are rising. It named flexible space operators as a specific demand driver behind that growth, in one of the tightest, most premium micro markets in the country.

Logistics Rents Are Cooling Region Wide. India Is the Exception.

CBRE expects logistics rental growth to slow across most of Asia Pacific in 2026 as occupiers turn more selective. India is the outlier. Indian cities are forecast to remain the region's rental growth leaders, with Mumbai expected to outperform on the strength of institutional grade supply and resilient local demand.

Quick commerce continues to be named as a major driver of Indian logistics activity, though CBRE adds an important caveat: these space commitments tend to be short term by nature, which is worth factoring into any read on how durable this demand really is.

Delhi's Retail Rents Just Hit a Record. They're Not Done Climbing.

India's retail numbers might be the most eye catching in the whole report. CBRE notes that Delhi NCR rents are currently at record highs, and despite that, growth is still expected to continue through 2026. Mumbai isn't far behind, having posted 10% year on year rental growth in 2025, with CBRE forecasting a largely stable, elevated level through the year ahead.

What's changing isn't just the numbers. It's landlord behaviour. CBRE observes that Indian landlords are actively shortening lease terms and refreshing tenant mix to drive footfall and sales density, a far more active, experience-led approach than the traditional long lease playbook.

Tier II Cities Are Quietly Driving India's Hotel Boom

India posted 10.7% year on year ADR growth in 2025, among the strongest hotel rate gains anywhere in Asia Pacific. The twist: this wasn't a metro story. CBRE points to Jaipur, Kochi, and Indore as key drivers, signalling that India's hospitality demand is spreading well beyond the usual gateway cities.

What This Actually Means If You're Building, Leasing, or Investing in India

A few conclusions worth drawing directly from CBRE's own numbers:

1. GCC driven office demand isn't a temporary bump. It's structural. Bangalore's outsized share of regional supply reflects sustained multinational expansion that shows no sign of slowing.
2. Flexible workspace demand has moved from a nice to have to a named growth driver, especially in premium micro markets like Mumbai's BKC.
3. SM REITs open a real new capital channel into Indian real estate, one that could expand the pool of institutional and retail investors over the medium term.
4. India's growth story is spreading geographically, from tier II hospitality markets to logistics demand outside the biggest metros, meaning the opportunity set is broader than the usual four or five cities.

The Bigger Picture

What stands out most in CBRE's 2026 outlook is how central India has become to the entire Asia Pacific real estate story. Not a footnote. A primary driver of regional office supply, a rental growth leader in logistics and retail, and one of the fastest growing hospitality markets by rate. If you're tracking India's commercial real estate trajectory, this report offers rare external validation: the same GCC led office demand, tier II hospitality growth, and flexible space appetite visible on the ground is now showing up clearly in the data.

We'll keep tracking CBRE's research alongside other major industry sources to build an ongoing, evidence backed picture of where India's commercial real estate market is headed next.

This commentary references publicly available research from CBRE's 2026 Asia Pacific Real Estate Market Outlook (CBRE Research, January 2026). Readers seeking the full report and methodology should consult the original publication.