Retail: by 2026, half of investors will have capital in excess of 100 million

After years of stagnation, the Italian retail property sector is once again at the heart of investors’ strategies. 2025 marks a turning point: the sector becomes the leading asset class in terms of investment volumes in the domestic property market and records its best-ever results in terms of market sentiment and operational performance.

According to the third edition of the Ey Retail Property Investments Barometer, produced in collaboration with the National Council of Shopping Centres (CNCC), 94 per cent of operators have expressed a positive or neutral view on the outlook for the next twelve months.

“The retail sector has lived up to expectations and, in 2025, outperformed all other asset classes, signalling a strong market recovery,” notes Marco Daviddi, managing partner at EY-Parthenon in Italia, adding that “investors’ renewed interest stems from effective asset management, particularly in terms of reconfiguring layouts and introducing new product categories”.

This confidence translates into concrete financial commitments: around 50 per cent of investors plan to allocate over 100 million euros to the retail sector in 2026, whilst 32 per cent are planning to allocate more than 200 million. In 2025, 97 per cent of respondents reported stable or rising returns on their assets, compared with 80 per cent the previous year, and for 45 per cent, the increase exceeded 5 per cent.

Roberto Zoia, president of the CNCC, also believes that “these results are no coincidence, but reflect a long-term vision based on digitalisation, energy efficiency and a new approach to the product mix, with ever-closer collaboration between landlords and tenants to attract the modern consumer”.