- Physical retail spaces are here to stay in the long run. We saw a boom in the online retail space last year, but things will take a U-turn this year. Customer behavior indicates not all customers wish to purchase products online via websites or e-commerce platforms. So physical retail spaces remain a potential area of investment as traditional buying continues.
- The mixed-use development market will continue to rise amidst growing population. Projects are already underway to create these integrated spaces with retail, workplaces, parking spaces and dwellings under the same roof or adjacent to one another.
- Emerging e-commerce businesses will lead to increasing demand for warehouse spaces as part of inventory management.
- Co-working spaces will continue to be a strong growth driver/disruptor. Eg: ‘WeWork’ – provides shared workspaces for startup, freelancers as well as small and large businesses. This concept will help property owners maintain good tenant occupancy in their owned spaces.
- Buyers will continue to prefer green buildings over traditional buildings as environmental sustainability becomes more & more significant.
- Majority of the decision making in CRE will rely on data insights from the use of predictive analytics and AI. Deploying these will help realtors forecast the revenue streams from various investments.
- The CRE markets in countries like Germany, USA and Canada are predicted to grow stronger. Varied socio-economic dynamics in different geographies will help investors diversify their portfolio and mitigate risk.
- The moving workforce will be in search of flexible options with better-augmented workplace experiences. Short-term and hybrid leases will offer flexibility to buyers and they are more likely to avail these services.
- According to a study, buyers spend almost 60% of their time on viewing property pictures. Enhanced visual content on the websites will capture greater attention. Also, multi-channel communication will become crucial with rising competition to reach multiple buyers and stay connected with them.
- REITs hold a significant impact on the future of commercial real estate. A diversified investment plan and one, that involves commercial real estate without the risk of owning the physical asset is certainly the chief selling point of REITs. It is a good bet for private investors as it allows distribution of liability and hence offers better protection against inflation.
