Today, we provide a complete overview of the latest reports of analysts in the CBRE, PWC and Synergy Research industry, offering a data focused on the state of the North American data centers market.
To find out, the latest CBRE discoveries highlight the record growth, pricing for shared prices and mounting power constraints that shape the site’s selection. For its part, PWC’s analysis highlights the broader economic impact of the sector, quantifying its contribution of billions of dollars to GDP, rapid growth in employment and an increase in tax revenue.
Meanwhile, the latest analysis of the Synergy Research industry details the acceleration of cloud expenditure, the role of AI in feeding infrastructure demand and an unprecedented increase in mergers and acquisitions of the data center.
Together, these reports paint a table of an industry at an inflection point – an explosive extension with challenges evolving the availability of energy, pressure on costs and investments in infrastructure. Let’s examine them.
CBRE: growing demand fuels the expansion of the registration data center
CBRE says that the North American data centers sector is evolving at an unprecedented rate, driven by the relentless demand for artificial intelligence (AI), hyperscal and cloud service providers.
The last North America data center trends H2 2024 CBRE report reveals that the total offer on primary markets jumped 34% in annual sliding at 6,922.6 megawatts (MW), exceeding growth of 26% recorded in 2023.
This accelerated expansion has triggered record construction activity and intensified competition for the available capacity.
Market momentum: scaling in the middle of power constraints
According to CBRE, the construction activity of the data center has reached historic levels, with 6,350 MW under development at the end of 2024, more than to double the 3,077.8 MW recorded a year earlier.
However, the report reveals that the sharp increase in development is highlighted by significant obstacles, in particular power constraints and challenges of the supply chain affecting critical electrical infrastructure. Consequently, the price of vacuration on the primary markets dropped to a hollow of 1.9%, with only a handful of sites offering a contiguous capacity of 10 MW + in 2025.
A key change in 2024 saw Atlanta exceeding northern virginia in annual net absorption for the first time, recording 705.8 MW of demand compared to the 451.7 MW in northern Virginia.
Meanwhile, CBRE notes that workloads focused on AI reshaped the geography of the data center, with secondary markets – notably Charlotte, northern Louisiana and Indiana – cake traction due to favorable incentives, land availability and electrical accessibility.
Price trends: costs climb in the middle of supply pressure
CBRE analysis noted that, with a capacity available to a bonus, wholesale colocation prices on the primary markets jumped 12.6% in annual sliding for a record of $ 184.06 per kilowatt (KW) per month.
Historically, the company notes that the major tenants have benefited from loose discounts; But the rarity of the contiguous capacity has eroded these advantages, tightening cost structures for hyperscal deployments.
CBRE noted that Hillsboro, Oregon, saw the highest price increase for the requirements of 3 to 10 MW, the rates up of 46% from one year to the other from $ 115.00 / KW / month to $ 167.50 / KW / month.
The increase in construction costs, the disturbances of the supply chain and the increased adoption of advanced cooling technologies – such as liquid and immersion cooling – contribute more to climbing prices, the report indicates.
Investor confidence remains strong
CBRE concludes that the data center sector remains the most efficient asset class, the H2 2024 transaction volume exceeding $ 6.5 billion. Despite the fluctuations in interest rates, the activity of the agreement has remained robust, with institutional investors, infrastructure funds and investment capital companies in an aggressively assets.
The key transactions cited by the new report include the following elements:
- Wren House & Blackrock forming a joint venture of $ 1.2 billion with QTS to acquire three stabilized data centers in northern Virginia.
- HMC Capital acquires a 32 MW hyperscal installation in Chicago de Prologis and Skybox.
- Cyrusone obtaining an agreement of $ 154 million for a self-occupied data center in northern Virginia from Powerhouse data centers.
- Equinix finalizing a joint venture of $ 15 billion + with the GIC and the Canadian retirement plan for the XSCAL expansion of the operator.
CBRE pointed out that the growing scale of hyperscal campuses increases evaluations upwards, with eleven asset sales exceeding $ 90 million and five exceeding the threshold of $ 400 million.
AI and network infrastructure stimulate fiber investment
The new CBRE data also tells how IA work -oriented workloads feed major investments in fibers and connectivity. Recent developments mentioned by the report include the following elements:
- The $ 1 billion agreement of AT&T with Corning to extend fiber infrastructure.
- Verizon Acquire Frontier, the largest supplier of pure play fibers in the United States
- Lumen in partnership with Microsoft to optimize fiber conduits for AI workloads.
- Progressive meta of 25,000 miles Underwater cable initiative linking the United States to the main global markets.
In the meantime: power challenges and emerging trends in 2025
CBRE directly declares that power remains the decisive constraint in the selection of the site for new developments. Although the floodplaces have historically influenced the planning of the site, the report concludes that operators favor access to energy, some willing to invest in increasing construction to mitigate environmental risks.
Meanwhile, the transition from coal to renewable power – as well as interest in generation on site, in particular solar, wind, geothermal and nuclear – will be a determining theme in 2025, according to CBRE. The analysis also notes how the data center industry also sees Increase in traction of natural gas production on site Like a grid supplement to facilitate advanced load constraints.
Overall, despite the record pipeline, CBRE affirms that the supply should be lagging behind, tightening the vacuums and conducting an avant-down activity. The report notes that the bottlenecks of the supply chain, in particular for electrical equipment, continue to extend the deadlines beyond three years for large-scale developments.
According to CBRE, other trends in the key data center in 2025 are contained by the following questions:
- Can hyperscale operators push in rural sites to 100+ miles from the main metros?
- Will the production of on-site electricity on site gain the independent viability of the traditional network interconnection?
- How long will the small modular reactors (SMR) receive regulatory approval for deployment?
- Sustainable solutions – such as hydrotraitée (HVO) vegetable oil for emergency generators and alternative concrete materials – are they common?
- How will public services improve network infrastructure to meet power requests from the data center?
Finally, recent American regional hot stories and noting market developments, according to CBRE, include:
- Kansas City: Long business market, Kansas City arouses hyperscal interests due to the competitive tax incentives of Missouri. Google recently announced plans for the development of large -scale data centers.
- Pennsylvania: With many natural gas reserves, the Pennsylvania emerges as a focal point for the production of energy on site. The state also assesses the reuse of coal -fired power plants for alternative energy sources, with discussions on the restart of the three -thousand nuclear power plant, adding a new layer of potential energy capacity.
Conclusion
The latest CBRE analysis confirms that, in 2025, in 2025, an increase in AI demand, evolutionary power strategies and aggressive market expansion will continue to reshape the landscape of the North American data center. With limited available capacities, operators and investors must navigate in supply constraints, the cost increase and the evolution of energy strategies to stay in the lead in this changing market quickly.