Although COVID-19 has certainly disrupted the real estate world, it has also, paradoxically, generated a novel opportunity for the industry and its evolution.
Colliers International researchers expect the market strength and increase in online shopping during stay-at-home orders to continue to drive activity this year.
Like nearly every industry, the multifamily real estate market has taken a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it may have one advantage that some industries don't: people always need a place to live.
Five of the seven apartment REITs reported Q1 April earnings this week, highlighting the impact COVID-19 has had - and will continue to have - on the real estate market.
"As the pandemic continues to drag on the real economy until we have a vaccine or drug, real estate occupational markets will start to deteriorate, albeit with a time lag," Thomas Mueller, the portfolio manager for EFV at BlackRock Real Assets, said in the press release.
The global real estate giant said tech startups from its two earlier accelerator classes have already developed virtual tools to help the commercial real estate industry navigate the pandemic's impacts.
From encouraging remote working to readjusting work on-site spaces and breaks, Cushman & Wakefield outlined six recommendations for creating social distancing measures and adjusting to the "new normal" in warehouses.