How big is the data center buildout?

JLL forecasts global capacity roughly doubling from 103 GW to about 200 GW by 2030, requiring up to $3 trillion of total investment, including $1.2 trillion of real estate asset value creation and around $870 billion of new debt financing.

Can individuals invest in data centers?

Not directly, in practical terms. The accessible routes are listed data center REITs, digital-infrastructure ETFs, energy and utility exposure, and, for property buyers, residential markets in data center corridors.

Do data center REITs pay good dividends?

Generally no, relative to traditional REITs. Yields are typically low single digits. The investment case rests on AFFO growth rather than income, which makes them more sensitive to interest rates and more correlated with technology equities.

Is the data center market a bubble?

JLL argues property metrics do not indicate one, citing ~97% occupancy and 77% of the pipeline pre-committed. Other researchers, including Omdia, publish more conservative forecasts. The genuine risks are power availability, four-year grid queues, community opposition, technology disruption, and rapidly growing securitised debt.

What is the biggest constraint on growth?

Power. Grid connection lead times exceed four years in primary markets, and "speed to power" has replaced traditional site-selection criteria.

Why does 2027 matter?

JLL expects AI inference workloads to overtake training in 2027, which would redistribute demand from a few centralised megasites toward distributed regional facilities, changing where data centers get built.

The AI Real Estate Boom (2026): Data Centers, Power, and How a Cross-Border Investor Actually Gets Exposure

Published on: July 9, 2026

Last verified: 9 July 2026. This article is informational. It is not investment advice, and JanusHermes is not a financial adviser. Named companies appear as examples of vehicle types, not as recommendations.

The largest real estate story of the decade is a building most people will never enter, in a place they will never visit, leased to a tenant they already use fifty times a day.

Here are the numbers, from JLL's 2026 Global Data Center Outlook, published January 2026:

Global data center capacity: 103 GW today, rising to roughly 200 GW by 2030
New capacity added 2026-2030: nearly 100 GW, effectively doubling the installed base
Sector growth: 14% CAGR through 2030
Total capital required: up to $3 trillion by 2030, comprising