Navigating the new reality of cross-border supply chains in real estate

A significant majority (64%) of real estate companies are planning to expand internationally during the next five years, according to the Forvis Mazars C-suite barometer 2026. However, two factors suggest that many of these organisations will need to re-think their approach to the supply chains underpinning these new ventures.

• In response to geopolitical risk and trade disputes, many companies in other vertical sectors have adopted a supply chain approach that emphasises resilience and agility (the ‘just in case’ approach) alongside the traditional focus on efficient, low-cost operations (‘just in time’). As detailed in our recently published report on preparing supply chains for global expansion, the results include an increased focus on multi-supplier strategies, inventory buffers, nearshoring, real-time analytics and AI-assisted scenario planning.
• Simultaneously, international expansion is being complicated by the increased use of taxation as a policy tool at national or regional level and the growing reach of ESG regulation, which is developing at different speeds and in different ways across regions and national territories. Increasingly, compliance mandates are shaping approaches to procurement and supply chain management. Within taxation (e.g. Pillar 2 and DAC 6) and sustainability regulation (e.g. the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive), in-depth supply chain visibility has become essential.

In combination, these two developments have led to a step change in complexity. What was once a supply chain dominated by construction materials has become something far broader: a value creation lifecycle involving interrelated decisions that extend from investment, design and construction to the re-use and recycling of properties. At different points in this lifecycle, decisions made about supply chains have the potential to impact compliance strategies, and vice-versa.

In response, senior business leaders need to focus on two key requirements. The first is the need to collect and act upon far larger volumes of supply chain data, as required by sustainability regulations. The second requirement involves the need for closer collaboration between specialists in procurement, supply chain and compliance. Increasingly, these specialisms must function not as sequential silos, but as contributors to a continuous process of optimisation underpinned by technologies with the capacity to manage and interrogate large volumes of data.

Fostering collaboration across the value creation lifecycle

Across the global real estate sector, widespread planning for international expansion is not always accompanied by preparations that take into account the changing nature of supply chain management and its relationship with compliance.

For example, while seven out of 10 real estate companies we surveyed for the latest edition of our C-suite barometer have plans for international expansion, the proportion investing in new supply chain technologies (47%) is notably lower. Although 45% regard compliance with local laws, regulations and taxes as the biggest challenge involved in international expansion, only 35% are investing in understanding forthcoming regulations (35%). In addition, fewer than one in three (28%) of those we surveyed told us that reviewing supply chain, operations and procurement is a leading strategic priority for their organisation over the next three to five years. 

These findings indicate that while some real estate companies are responding to the convergence of compliance and supply chain management, others need to sharpen their focus on the resulting challenges. In terms of encouraging increased internal collaboration, Forvis Mazars recommends the following strategies:

•  Work to break down the silos that separate specialist teams across the value creation lifecycle. Introduce cross-departmental KPIs to reinforce collaboration across the entire value chain.
•  Integrate sustainability and tax analysis into the earliest gated sign-offs on every project, from deal architecture to design. Manage trade-offs proactively, including tensions between legal and financial optimisation.
•  Support sustainability by adopting recognised global frameworks, third-party due diligence and ESG-driven contractual clauses. Embed tax planning into supply chain design with the aim of maximising available green incentives and managing tax and regulatory burdens.
• For international projects within real estate companies that have reached a significant size, it makes sense to ensure access to both local target market expertise and a source of high-level, strategic insights on cross-border compliance and supply chain management.
• Prioritise the potential of optimising tax liabilities by re-structuring procurement and re-locating IP in favourable jurisdictions

The enabling role of technology

Business leaders must consider the case for investing in solutions that support knowledge sharing and collaboration across the entire value creation lifecycle.

• All stakeholders need access to well-organised data within a centralised, scalable repository. An in-house data lake that provides a single source of truth will enable collaboration and minimise the risks created by fragmented data holdings.
• Predictive analytics and scenario-planning tools increasingly allow companies to manage the costs of supply chain resilience and identify optimal trade-offs between procurement, supply chain and compliance strategies. In the realm of taxation, companies are increasingly using compliance management systems that allow them to keep track of relevant documentation and their obligations.
• Improving supply chain visibility and traceability clearly matters to compliance specialists but can also help procurement and supply chain managers to identify weaknesses in their sourcing networks. In addition, generative AI, machine learning and computer vision are opening up new possibilities in terms of origin tracing, shipping anomalies, sub-tier supplier discovery and frictionless disclosure.
• A wide range of use case scenarios for AI are emerging at the intersection of supply chain management and compliance. Examples include AI systems for site selection, automated building design, climate risk assessment, supplier risk detection, legal document intelligence and regulatory scanning.
• As the industry invests in technology solutions, fundamental lessons about the pre-conditions for successful deployment need to play a central role in decision making. These lessons include the need for clean and well-structured data, robust AI governance, a preference for scalable deployment and the use of off-the-shelf solutions for industry-standard use cases.

Building a sustainable future

Real estate, infrastructure and the built environment account for an estimated 40% of greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions worldwide. Although the effort to reduce emissions from this level is arguably most visible and concerted in Europe, ESG disclosure standards for real estate are developing rapidly in Asia and the Middle East. In the US, federal regulation is, in some ways, less influential than local building energy codes, performance standards and green design certification programmes that attract sustainability-minded buyers, tenants and investors.

Given increasing global demand for floorspace, the pressure on the real estate sector seems unlikely to abate any time soon. Under these circumstances, real estate developers with international expansion plans must construct resilient supply chains that reflect the reality of local regulations and are supported by collaboration between compliance professionals and their counterparts in procurement and supply chain management.