Deloitte Predicts $4 Trillion Boom in Tokenized Real Estate by 2035

The forecast underscores the growing belief that blockchain technology could fundamentally reshape how people buy, sell, and invest in real estate by allowing ownership to be broken into digital tokens that can be traded on blockchain platforms. The report highlights this trend as part of a broader shift toward the digitization of traditionally illiquid assets.

Real estate tokenization refers to the process of representing ownership of real-world property as digital tokens recorded on a blockchain. These tokens can represent entire buildings, individual units, or fractional stakes in a property, allowing multiple investors to co-own a real estate asset in a secure and transparent way.

Unlike traditional real estate investing, which often involves high upfront capital, complex paperwork, and limited liquidity, tokenized real estate enables faster transactions, lower entry points, and potentially global access for investors.

Deloitte views tokenization as a transformative force in real estate, enabling fractional ownership and enhancing liquidity. This approach opens traditionally illiquid markets to a broader range of investors, fundamentally changing how real estate assets are owned, traded, and accessed.

Deloitte’s research attributes the projected $3.8 trillion growth in tokenized real estate to several key factors. Investor interest in fractional ownership is accelerating, particularly among millennials and Gen Z, who are seeking more accessible and flexible investment opportunities. Meanwhile, blockchain technology is reaching greater maturity, with improved infrastructure and regulatory clarity driving increased institutional confidence in tokenized markets.

Operational efficiencies are also playing a critical role in this growth. Smart contracts and digital records are streamlining processes such as tenant management, dividend distribution, and asset transfers, reducing transaction costs and enhancing transparency across the ecosystem.

The report also notes that tokenized real estate could play a significant role in developing economies where land ownership rights are traditionally opaque or insecure.

Dubai has positioned itself as a pioneer in this space. In March 2025, the Dubai Land Department, in collaboration with the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and Dubai Future Foundation, launched a real estate tokenization pilot. The program envisions tokenized transactions accounting for at least 7% of total property deals in the emirate by 2033, amounting to approximately $16 billion in value.

This pilot is viewed as a testbed for integrating blockchain into public land registries and offers a blueprint for other jurisdictions looking to follow suit.

Elsewhere, the U.S. market is seeing rapid experimentation. Platforms such as RealT, Lofty, and Arrived offer tokenized stakes in residential properties with minimum investments as low as $50. These platforms distribute rental income as yield and allow investors to trade their shares on secondary marketplaces.

Financial giants are also getting involved. UBS launched a tokenized money market fund, uMINT, in late 2024, signaling institutional interest in using tokenization beyond real estate. Meanwhile, JPMorgan has been experimenting with tokenized collateral settlements via its Onyx platform.

Despite its promise, the path forward for real estate tokenization is not without obstacles. Deloitte highlights several hurdles that must be addressed before tokenization can achieve mainstream adoption.

One major challenge is regulatory uncertainty, as rules surrounding securities, property rights, and cross-border transactions vary significantly across jurisdictions. This fragmented regulatory landscape may slow institutional participation. Another concern is asset custody and security; safeguarding digital tokens that represent ownership of physical property demands robust custody infrastructure, which is still evolving.

Market standardization also remains an issue, with tokenized real estate platforms lacking universal standards for valuation, reporting, and investor protection. Finally, liquidity constraints present a significant hurdle. While fractional ownership increases accessibility, the absence of deep and regulated secondary markets could limit actual liquidity, potentially restricting investors' ability to easily buy and sell their stakes.

Deloitte suggests that addressing these issues will require collaboration between governments, regulators, blockchain developers, and traditional financial institutions.

Tokenized real estate has the potential to democratize access to high-value assets, unlocking new capital sources for developers while offering retail investors exposure to an otherwise exclusive asset class.

If these conditions are met, real estate tokenization could shift from a niche innovation to a core component of global property markets.