Senior real estate and finance leaders are leaning harder than ever on their lease data to shape strategy, expand space while hedging against economic uncertainty and tightening their grip on costs and compliance, according to a new report from Visual Lease, a CoStar company.
Visual Lease’s report, “The Trends, Risks and Opportunities Shaping Lease Portfolio Management,” says executives are “elevating strategic decision-making” about real estate and using lease portfolio data for forecasting, budgeting, negotiations and cost savings. One of the most notable shifts is a renewed appetite for additional commercial real estate space. In 2024, 56% of respondents planned to add space as part of their strategy. This year, that share climbed to 70%, a 14-percentage-point increase. Of those planning to add space, 44% expect to expand existing locations, 44% plan to use co-working spaces and 38% anticipate adding new satellite sites.
Even as expansion plans accelerate, respondents remain cautious about capital commitments. According to the report, 64% said their companies are “extremely or very likely” to delay facility upgrades or moves in 2026 because of the state of the economy. Flexibility has become a key hedge: 78% of respondents say retaining flexible lease options is “extremely” or “very important” today, up from 61% in 2024. Visual Lease notes that greater flexibility allows companies to respond more easily to changing economic or workplace conditions.
Despite broader debate about the value of ESG and sustainability reporting and some rollbacks in government requirements, Visual Lease
finds that companies are still investing in these efforts. About 80% of real estate leaders and 88% of finance leaders continued to prioritize ESG and sustainability reporting more in 2025 than in 2024. To support this and other objectives, executives are seeking better visibility and control over their lease portfolios. The share of respondents who were either “very” or “extremely” confident in understanding costs, risks and opportunities in their CRE portfolios rose to 71% this year, up from 52% last year.
Visual Lease reports that real estate leaders are using lease data across a range of strategic functions. According to the survey, 57% use lease information to enhance financial forecasting and budgeting, 51% to optimize lease renewals and negotiations, and 50% to improve space utilization and planning. Another 49% use lease data to identify cost-saving opportunities, 49% to support sustainability and ESG initiatives and 42% to benchmark portfolios against market trends and competitor data. When negotiating new leases, 65% of real estate executives rely on third-party real estate service providers or brokers, 55% on a licensed real estate data provider and 53% on industry peers.
To enable this level of analysis, the report says that lease management software is necessary and that Visual Lease sells such solutions. The broader implication is that, whether sourced from a third party or developed in-house, organizations need a data system that can store lease information, surface relevant terms and compile, manipulate and report on what is in their leases.
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