ATLANTA—Optimism. That's the sentiment among corporate real estate executives at large companies around the world when it comes to hiring outlooks and expansion plans—and overall economic growth in the quarter ahead.

So says a new survey from CoreNet Global. Measured over time, the CoreNet Global Corporate Real Estate Index is based on a quarterly survey.

Essentially, it's a statistical measure that reveals trends and confidence levels within the corporate real estate (CRE) world. The index correlates to global economic events to demonstrate how CRE decisions and behaviors indicate larger macro-economic trends.

In one survey question, CoreNet Global asked how CRE execs would rank its own company's prospects for growth and expansion. Seventy-five percent were either optimistic, very optimistic or extremely optimistic. One 1 percent was pessimistic.

How likely are these companies to increase real estate portfolios over the next quarter as a result of adding employees? Forty-seven percent said that this was either likely, very likely or extremely likely.

When asked how they would rate their own confidence level in the global economic outlook over the next quarter, 50 percent were either “optimistic” or “very optimistic.” Finally, when considering the likelihood of needing additional capacity to handle projected business growth over the next quarter, 40 percent said that this was either likely, very likely or extremely likely.

CoreNet Global will repeat the survey of senior level corporate real estate execs at companies—including Fortune 500 firms—quarterly, tapping into CRE executives' perspective on the overall economy. The index will use survey results to create an economic benchmark.