Three years ago, 31 percent of real estate professionals flagged deglobalisation as a concern. In 2026, that number is 70 percent. It has more than doubled, making it one of the fastest-rising issues in the PwC/ULI survey's history.
The reasons are well documented: US tariff policy, the fragmentation of global trade, the war in Ukraine, the Gulf conflict, and the broader unwinding of the post-Cold War economic order. Capital that once moved freely across borders is now moving more cautiously, more regionally, and with greater attention to jurisdiction risk.
But within this disruption, the report identifies a counterintuitive opportunity. As one global player puts it: "While geopolitical disruption is largely seen as impeding growth, a number of respondents believe Europe will benefit from ongoing volatility in the US. In a more volatile environment, there are more deals to be done, and more interesting deals to be done, than when things are completely stable."
Deglobalisation does not mean people stop buying. It means they buy closer to home. A European HNWI who once diversified across London, Dubai, and Singapore now concentrates in jurisdictions they understand, can access easily, and where the rule of law is predictable.
For a British family, post-non-dom, that jurisdiction is increasingly Italy. For a Middle Eastern family, post-Gulf conflict, it is the same. For an American family hedging against dollar volatility and political uncertainty, Europe, and specifically the euro zone, offers a structural counterweight.
All roads lead to the same geography: a mature, liquid, fiscally attractive European destination with international connectivity and a lifestyle proposition that needs no selling.
The families arriving on Lake Como today are not speculating. They are regionalising. They are consolidating their European footprint in a place that combines fiscal efficiency, cultural depth, and physical resilience.
Deglobalisation is a macro trend. But its effects are intensely local. And the localities that understand this, those that can offer not just a property but a way of life, will capture a disproportionate share of the capital that is, right now, looking for a home.
