Increased Deal Volume and Revenue Has Cushman & Wakefield Expecting a Strong 2025

Cushman & Wakefield (CWK) is looking forward to a strong 2025 after it closed out 2024 with increases in revenue and deal volume.

Revenue increased 3 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2024 to $2.6 billion, meaning the brokerage will start 2025 with more cash in reserve, executives said Thursday during C&W’s fourth-quarter earnings call. Plus, the brokerage has lower interest expenses and a clear set of priorities about where to deploy funds in the future.

Meanwhile, leasing revenue jumped 6 percent year-over-year, driven mainly by tailwinds in the U.S. markets for office and industrial, according to C&W. Capital markets revenue increased 35 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter as well.

“As of now, the macroeconomic environment as it pertains to property is largely favorable,” Michelle MacKay, CEO of C&W, said during the call. “The economy is growing, creating jobs. Corporate profits are healthy. Odds of a recession have receded.

“All of these factors have created a healthy backdrop for leasing and our own performance confirms that leasing has momentum, as we have now had five straight consecutive quarters of year-over-year leasing revenue growth,” MacKay added.

The fourth quarter had the best leasing stats for the brokerage since the pandemic and — after tracking office occupancy in major markets — expects leasing momentum to continue in the mid-single digits this year, according to MacKay.

Markets such as Brooklyn, Baltimore, Tampa, Fla., and Nashville, Tenn., were seeing the highest occupancy, while San Francisco, Dallas and Washington, D.C., are still lagging in their recovery.

Leasing in the industrial sector continues to be on solid footing, though it is coming down from its red-hot pandemic days. Despite uncertainty over whether the Trump administration’s tariff war with China, Canada and Mexico could signal a headwind, MacKay was confident the brokerage could find a way to profit.

“The policy situation remains fluid and unpredictable, and we’re studying it, our clients are studying it, but there’s a lot we don’t know in terms of precise timing and things like tariffs and how policy is going to change and how it will impact property,” MacKay said. “In terms of our own position through all of this, we’re an advisory business. In times of uncertainty, people need solutions, which means they’re bringing us in to help solve [problems] that could mean expansion, contraction, buildout, relocation, any of these things.”

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.