During the previous year, an investment of 1.3 trillion USD dollars was accounted for in the commercial sector globally, an increase of 55% more than in 2020
(MEXICO – CBRE).- Despite the fact that the current health emergency continues, this situation was no longer an obstacle for the real estate sector at a global level, and now, with more force than at pre-pandemic levels. Likewise, low interest rates in different parts of the world are expected to drive acquisitions and encourage recovery in different sectors.
According to the CBRE firm, in 2021, there was a historical global investment for the commercial real estate sector (which only excludes residential homes) of 1.3 trillion US dollars, that is, 55% more than in 2020 and 21% more than in 2019.
“Despite a spike in COVID-19 cases and rising inflation, global commercial real estate investment saw strong growth in the fourth quarter of 2021, with record volumes in the United States and Europe, along with a strong growth in the Asia-Pacific region”, detailed the firm CBRE.
For Walid Moussa, who was world president of the International Federation of Real Estate (FIABCI) from 2019 to 2020, the real estate market is one of the main thermometers of the economy and when there are signs of economic recovery, positive signs emerge for this industry too.
Moussa says that the real estate market is one of the thermometers of the economy as well as the construction industry.
“It is a very important parameter. The impact of covid-19 was very significant and the pandemic has surely changed and will change our way of living, working, traveling, housing, eating, and consuming in general. We are seeing very important changes in the real estate world , “said Moussa in an interview.
According to Moussa, with the reopening of economic activity, greater dynamism could be observed in sectors that were really hit by the start of the pandemic, such as the commercial and office sectors.
The former president of Fiabci indicated the global perspective by sector. He stated that the commercial market , which was one of the most affected, has begun to recover, especially in European and Asian countries, given the reopening of the economies of the countries in those continents.
“We are seeing, for example, in countries like Dubai where the economy has been reactivated, the people are going out and buying, this encourages recovery,” said Moussa, adding that electronic commerce has supported the recovery of this type of commercial activity.
Talking about the hotel industry, Moussa indicated that this segment was seriously affected by the closure of borders at the beginning of the health emergency, but it has also seen a strong recovery thanks to local and international travelers.
“Many hotels closed due to the pandemic, we saw hotels for sale all over the world, but this is gradually happening. In the first instance they opened the hotels again for local tourists, but when they reopened the borders, International and domestic tourism came back to life. Those hotels have already passed that difficult stage,” the expert said.
Another sector that has recovered favorably is the accommodation rental services, such as those offered by the Airbnb platform. “In the first stage of covid, the rental of real estate slowed down a lot, even the company (Airbnb) had to lay off 25% of its staff, but this situation has already been overcome, there are many people who are using Airbnb,” Moussa continued.
Regarding the issue of office space, Moussa indicated that it was possibly the real estate sector hardest hit by the pandemic, but over the months, little by little it begins to recover and now rental prices have stabilized and there are good prospects for class A spaces.
“In offices, it was very hard because people were working from home, many companies closed their working places, so we discovered that we could work from afar. Now that they are opening again, it has already been adapted and of course prices fell in 2020 and in in 2021 they began to stabilize. The office market is going to take a while to return, but when it comes to luxury offices, we saw that there was stability, because companies are looking for large size facilities and there is a great demand for class A office spaces”, Moussa highlighted.
Housing behavior
The former president of Fiabci pointed out that low interest rates in the world have boosted the issue of home acquisition globally , positioning itself as the segment of the industry that behaved best during these times of pandemic.
” Housing prices have risen, there is a lot of demand, people want to get out of the cities, there is a lot of demand outside the cities; for example, in Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula is recovering rapidly, and there is a great demand for real estate in that region,” Moussa said.
According to the specialist in the real estate sector , the price of housing at a global level had an increase in 2021 of almost 6%; however, in some countries, such as Brazil or Pakistan, the real estate prices went down significantly.
In this context, Moussa pointed out that the real estate sector shows signs of recovery, so it is a good time to invest in it, since there are conditions to do so.
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