As the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the global economy unfold, it becomes more apparent than ever: to survive, businesses must show agility and meet the short-term shocks in the market, an economic recession, and structural changes that were a long time coming. Due to the lockdowns enforced to contain the spread of the virus, commercial real estate companies saw disruption in normal business activities, as well as delays in building starts and completions. Despite a challenging second quarter, commercial real estate investment activity started to show early signs of recovery in the third quarter of 2020.
How the recovery will play out, however, will largely depend on how governments and businesses handle the second wave of the pandemic, vaccination, and how they adapt to the increasingly dynamic market conditions. For the office real estate sector, this means embracing the reality of flexible working arrangements and home office.
Commercial real estate has been enjoying a high level of investor interest in recent years and has earned its place as a core asset in the portfolio of institutional investors. Globally, the commercial real estate market is worth over 30 trillion U.S. dollars – twice the size of China’s economy. With one-third of the estimated global market size, the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) is the leading commercial real estate market.
Global commercial propertyThe coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been a massive challenge for commercial real estate investment worldwide. Even office real estate, which is the biggest investment asset class, has been seeing a decrease in capital performance. While retail has undoubtedly been hit the hardest, industrial and logistic real estate proved to be the most resilient sector. With e-commerce growing at an accelerated pace, last-mile logistics are more important than ever.
Office property in ChinaThrough digitalization and data collection, commercial real estate companies can generate valuable insights and improve their products and services, leading to higher tenant engagement and satisfaction. While digitalization is definitely on the agenda, one in three respondents in a global survey among industry experts shared that their company does not have the resources and skills required to operate a digitally transformed business.
ProptechCommercial real estate brokerage firms are companies that sell commercial properties. Combined, the top five brokerage firms worldwide registered over 645 billion U.S. dollars in transaction volume in 2019, with CBRE leading the ranking as the biggest commercial property broker worldwide. Apart from brokerage firms, there are other types of companies such as real estate investment trusts (REITs), and real estate asset managers.
CBREThe broad definition of commercial real estate includes property that has been built for business purposes. In this section, Statista provides the most relevant and up to date data on the commercial real estate sector and its main subsectors: office, retail, industrial and logistic, and hospitality. Additionally, Statista covers alternative commercial properties such as multifamily, senior, and student housing.
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