Report places real estate as one of the present drivers of the economy and acknowledges profound changes in the residential and office sectors.
Hybrid offices that will become a ” gathering place ” for employees, new residential concepts such as coliving or built-to-rent that facilitate access to housing for disadvantaged groups or, in the urban field, blurred boundaries between work and living areas.
These are some of the conclusions of the Covid 19 / Impact on the real estate sector report elaborated by the Urban Land Institute, which examines the evolution of the activity during this year of health crisis. Under the coordination of B720 Fermín Vázquez Arquitectos, the report is the result of the combined work of seven studies developed by different professionals from organisations linked to ULI.
The studies combine an analysis of objective data (including information provided by consultants such as Cbre, JLL and Savills) with interviews with leading industry executives.
The report argues that, in this crisis, the real estate sector is part of the solution, as it has not let up in its contribution to society in terms of investment, employment and the pursuit of citizens’ well-being. Thus, new-build housing, as well as second-hand single-family homes, are showing a positive trend in sales and, in some cases, a certain upturn in prices.
Households, furthermore, seem to be placing a higher value on the specific characteristics of the property and less on its location. Another of the report’s initial conclusions is that access to housing will be even more difficult after the pandemic, especially for young people and low-income households. Hence, new models of rental housing, such as built-to-rent, coliving or impact investment, will become even more difficult in the aftermath of the pandemic, especially for young people and low-income families.
The offices of the future will be a value-added “meeting place” with flexible spaces conceived as places of creativity, inspiration and communication
In terms of offices, the best performers will be those that are well positioned and well connected, energy efficient and sustainable, where employees want to go because they have a good working experience, according to the study. The office of the future will tend towards a hybrid format, in which face-to-face work is mixed with teleworking, sometimes at the employee’s choice. In this hybrid model, offices will be a value-added ” gathering place “, with flexible spaces conceived as places for meeting, collaboration, creativity, inspiration and communication.
Finally, from an urban planning point of view, the contemporary trend towards a compact city does not seem to be changing. A potential increase in telecommuting may pose a blurred boundary between workspaces and homes, in a city model with a greater hybridisation of uses than at present, where housing, offices, shops and basic services coexist side by side.
