Real Estate Market Update: Winter 2025-2026

Brown & Riding’s Winter 2025-2026 Real Estate Market Update offers a clear look at current conditions and emerging trends across Property, Casualty, Professional Liability, and Sexual Abuse and Molestation (SAM) coverage. Drawing on insights from specialists nationwide, this report highlights the key dynamics shaping today’s real estate landscape and the strategic considerations retail partners should keep in mind for the year ahead.

A brief summary of the 7-page report is below.

For a comprehensive look, including key observations, insights, and success stories, click the button below.

Brown & Riding’s Real Estate Practice delivered strong growth in its first year, adding talent, deepening specialization, and achieving every strategic goal set at launch. Despite a challenging property market, the team continued to expand through strong collaboration, disciplined execution, and trusted retail partnerships.

The property market is showing signs of stabilization nationwide. The East Coast is benefiting from increased reinsurance capacity and more flexible terms, while the West Coast sees new MGAs driving competition in wildfire and earthquake coverage. Both regions present meaningful opportunities for insureds as rates soften, terms broaden, and strategic placements become more achievable.

Real estate casualty remains challenging as carriers balance rising claim costs and heightened underwriting oversight, even as parts of the broader casualty market begin to stabilize. Capacity exists, but carriers are selective, rewarding insureds that demonstrate strong documentation, maintenance, and risk control practices.

Professional liability carriers are tightening standards as social inflation drives higher verdicts, increased litigation costs, and greater exposure for real estate professionals. Insurers are looking closely at documentation, communication, and risk management practices to determine pricing and terms.

More lenders and insurers are now requiring SAM liability coverage for real estate owners, even when there is no direct contact with occupants. This trend highlights a broader shift in the industry toward proactive risk mitigation and contractual accountability to address the increasing financial, reputational, and legal risks associated with abuse-related claims.

Brown & Riding provides a strategic partnership that’s built on specialty expertise, tailored solutions, and ongoing support. We help retail partners submit stronger submissions, secure the most competitive and comprehensive coverage, and stay ahead of market shifts through proactive monitoring. We are committed to helping you protect your insureds where they’re most exposed.

For additional observations, insights, and recent success stories from Brown & Riding’s experts, click the button below.

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Shannon Beric, Trevor Boling, Dawn Cusack, Dawn Gordon, and Lisa Rodriguez bring their specialized expertise to Brown & Riding’s Real Estate Practice, which is led by JulieAnne Lally. They contribute to a dedicated team of more than 20 professionals who collaborate across multiple lines within the real estate sector to prevent coverage gaps and deliver the strongest solutions available in the marketplace.