Real estate is about understanding the nuances of the local market, economic conditions, regulatory changes, and demographic trends. These factors require expertise in place. But we will see a future where local limitations may diminish to some extent, especially as globalization and less inventory leads to faster and more distant transactions. Global real estate investment volumes reached US$888.6 billion in 2025, a 14% increase year-on-year, while cross-border transactions grew at more than twice that rate, up 25% from 2024, according to JLL and PwC. We are more open, and in some cases, increasingly compelled to relocate internationally, whether for better investment opportunities, affordability, or lifestyle preferences.
As Colliers’ Global Chief Marketing Officer notes, real estate marketing is not a choice between local and global expertise, but an integration of both. The firm operates with specialists in each market, supported by a global team, both requiring different thinking and tactics.
As younger generations grow up in a digital-first reality and middle-aged buyers become more tech-savvy, people increasingly feel comfortable making high-value decisions from a distance. Millennials and Gen Z now collectively account for over 62% of all home purchase mortgage inquiries in the U.S., with millennials alone driving nearly half of all applications in the country’s fifty largest metros. Remote closing platforms, digital notarization, and data-driven valuation tools are already simplifying cross-border transactions, making it easier for individuals to buy properties or invest internationally with fewer barriers than ever.
By 2050, new developments could be approved and sold without the need of physical handshakes as we will have the opportunity to explore and purchase properties from anywhere, anytime. A lot will depend on legal regulation, but in most markets all we need is more sophisticated and realistic marketing that helps people better understand value, design, and location in digital. Video content and interactive experiences will be the centerpiece of this shift, the tools that communicate a property’s value thousands of miles away through creativity, data, and realism. One DAMAC development we collaborated on in Dubai sold all units in a single day through a well-orchestrated sales campaign. And the scale of what’s possible keeps growing. DAMAC’s December 2024 launch of DAMAC Islands 1 sold 3,164 units in 24 hours, generating $2.7 billion in a single day and earning a Guinness World Record for the highest revenue from a real estate launch in a single day. These aren’t outliers, they’re proof of where the industry is heading.
Some businesses rely solely on their existing local network, nurturing their email lists, but organic social and paid advertising remain the most underrated and underpriced lead generation tools in real estate. For as little as $1,000, you can reach buyers across multiple continents simultaneously, with the flexibility to pause or iterate underperforming campaigns at any time. Facebook CPM benchmarks for real estate average between $7 and $30 per thousand impressions, meaning a $1,000 campaign can generate between 30,000 and 140,000 targeted impressions across multiple geographies. However, sustained success requires an ongoing commitment to digital tools.
The main goal is always conversion. Industry data shows that lead-to-sale conversion in off-plan residential sits between 0.5% and 2%, meaning a developer or agent must generate between 50 and 200 qualified leads to close a single sale. That means for every 1,000 leads, a developer closes 5 to 20 sales. The question isn’t more attention, it’s better attention. Reaching the right buyers, not just more buyers. For those developers and brokerages seeking growth, working and operating, and therefore marketing, internationally is becoming less of an option and more of a necessity to keep their revenue income. While some niche markets will remain hyper-local, with the rise of remote, the majority of developers will need to compete on a global stage.
This way marketing, technology and attention is starting to play a much bigger role in commercial and residential real estate sales. Just as photorealistic renderings in the late 90s replaced traditional sketches and redefined property marketing, the digital shift and now advanced AI is redefining the way we present new developments to a bigger audience. The tools and opportunities available today allow us to craft content and data-backed campaigns that combine video, music, narration, story, emotion, and VFX to clearly communicate features and stand out amid fierce competition, moving far beyond the limitations of showing only snapshots of the design.
The most sophisticated developers already understand this. One of the UK’s largest residential developers uses their digital platform to show only 10 of 200 available units at a time, not because of technical limitations, but as a deliberate sales strategy. Scarcity, curation, and controlled information release are becoming as important as the content itself.
The dual pressures of rising costs and increased competition will push companies to focus on ROI more than ever and look beyond their local market.
Local focus always limits opportunities, especially during downturns, but many builders aren’t seeking external investment and are patient enough to wait years for their returns. If you prioritize speed and returns, because the sooner you sell, the sooner you can reinvest into the next big thing, marketing has the power to accelerate that, especially if it’s global, well-thought-out, and backed by data. Investing in better creative and strategy will also help brands and developers build a global following, which translates directly into interest and pipeline. The question is whether a company’s intention is to adapt and compete in global markets, or to stay local.
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