Deloitte's David Jacobstein

This summer ULI put out a massive Deloitte-sponsored report on the future of the global real estate industry entitled “Global Demographics 2008 Shaping Real Estate’s Future.” The Leanne Lachman and Deborah Brett-authored report found, among other things, that populations will continue to urbanize in Asia, leading to more dense urban development in that region; the demand for infrastructure is increasing dramatically in developing nations; and retail demand, though waning in this country, will ramp up in other parts of the world. David Jacobstein, senior advisor to Deloitte’s real estate group spoke with GlobeSt.com about some findings in the report and what is to come for the industry.

GlobeSt.com: Does this report find any particular real estate sector performing poorly in the future?

Jacobstein: The purpose of the report is to talk about trends. As detailed as it is, it cannot get down to the level of every single city and every single geographic area and what the positive and negative implications are. They tried to do it on a top down basis. The message that I read from it is that there are going to be, in most places, significant increases in population. There will also be a stabilization in some places. The opportunities exist in the developed countries nowhere near to the extent that they do in the developing countries because those countries have been incredibly undeserved in terms of housing and retail.