Yahoo Finance and CryptoBriefing both link a data-center boom to the best CRE sales since 2005, but they name different lead deals, different deal sizes, and different reporting periods with different volume totals.
Yahoo Finance and CryptoBriefing both link a data-center boom to the best CRE sales since 2005, but they name different lead deals, different deal sizes, and different reporting periods with different volume totals.
What all sources agree on
- Data center transactions are credited with driving commercial real estate sales volume to its highest level since 2005.
- Both reports attribute their figures to MSCI data.
- Both describe portfolio-level or entity-level deals as providing much of the lift in volume.
Where the reports disagree
1Which deal was the largest contributor to the surge
BlackRock's acquisition of Aligned Data Centers and other deals in the sector accounting for $33.8B of that total, according to MSCI's monthly Capital Trends report.
Yahoo Finance2026-08-25 17:01
The single largest contributor to these numbers was Digital Realty's $5.6B acquisition of four data center properties from Blackstone.
CryptoBriefing2026-08-25 17:23
What would settle it: MSCI's monthly Capital Trends report or the companies' own transaction announcements/SEC filings.
2Size of the lead data center deal
BlackRock's acquisition of Aligned Data Centers and other deals in the sector accounting for $33.8B of that total
Yahoo Finance2026-08-25 17:01
A single $5.6 billion acquisition from Blackstone helped push commercial real estate transaction volumes to levels not seen in two decades
CryptoBriefing2026-08-25 17:23
What would settle it: Deal documentation from BlackRock/Aligned Data Centers or Digital Realty/Blackstone confirming transaction value.
3Reporting period and headline volume/growth figures
July sales volume totaled $74.4B in June… Transaction volume in July was up 1,911% for data centers
Yahoo Finance2026-08-25 17:01
National data center transaction volume hit $7.7B in the second quarter of 2026 across just 23 deals, representing a staggering 1,806% increase year-over-year… Broader CRE investment sales in Q2 2026 reached $136.6B, a 14% year-over-year increase according to MSCI data.
CryptoBriefing2026-08-25 17:23
What would settle it: MSCI's monthly Capital Trends report specifying whether figures are for July alone or for Q2 2026.
What to make of it
Treat the broad narrative — data centers pushing CRE volume to a 2005-era high — as agreed across both reports, but do not cite a specific deal name, deal size, or volume/growth figure until MSCI's underlying Capital Trends data or the companies' own transaction records are checked, since the two accounts give incompatible numbers for the same period.
Treat the broad narrative — data centers pushing CRE volume to a 2005-era high — as agreed across both reports, but do not cite a specific deal name, deal size, or volume/growth figure until MSCI's underlying Capital Trends data or the companies' own transaction records are checked, since the two accounts give incompatible numbers for the same period.