Mike Zorbas, CEO of the Property Council of Australia, sat down for a video interview at Nareit's REITweek: 2026 Investor Conference in New York, June 1-4.
Australia remains one of the Asia-Pacific region's most attractive destinations for real estate investment, according to Zorbas. He highlighted Australia's strong long-term fundamentals, including rapid population growth, a young demographic profile, and a transparent, liquid property market.
"It is one of the top three Asia-Pacific destinations for investment, alongside Singapore and Japan," he said.
At the same time, Australia's commercial real estate sector faces headwinds from higher capital costs, rising labor expenses, and ongoing asset revaluations. Those pressures are driving increasingly differentiated investment strategies across property types and a greater focus on meeting specific tenant needs.
Looking globally, Zorbas pointed to two major forces shaping the future of real estate: urbanization and technological innovation. While continued population growth will sustain demand for land and influence preferred asset classes, emerging technologies could fundamentally transform the industry.
"AI, tokenization, and, of course, blockchain answer many of our longstanding challenges in this sector," Zorbas said, noting their potential to streamline planning and construction, lower transaction costs, and improve market liquidity.
Looking ahead, he said the Australian property industry's top priorities include strengthening partnerships with all levels of government, improving planning systems, attracting global capital, and addressing the nation's housing shortage. Expanding housing supply, he noted, will be critical to making Australia's cities more productive and equitable.