Data centers — the strongest growth theme
The fastest-growing real estate sector. AI-driven demand drove vacancy to 1% in 2024 and held it there through 2025; rents rose 9% in 2025. For individuals, accessible only through REITs (Digital Realty, Equinix). Tenant concentration in ~10 hyperscalers is the structural risk.
The five largest hyperscalers (Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta, Oracle) announced $710 billion of planned 2026 capex. US data center capacity is projected to rise from ~30 GW in 2025 to 90+ GW by 2030 — a 22% CAGR.
Power has become the binding constraint, not capital. Grid connection timelines now average four years or more in major hubs. PJM's 2025/2026 capacity auction priced at $14.7 billion vs. $2.2 billion the prior year. ERCOT was monitoring 233+ GW of large load interconnection requests as of December 2025 — up 300% over 2024.
For individuals: Digital Realty (DLR) and Equinix (EQIX) are the major pure-play public REITs. Both trade at high P/FFO multiples reflecting the growth — and concentration risk if AI capex pulls back.