Technological and lifestyle changes, are among the aspects that must be taken into account to understand the real estate market, says Shalom Drizin, owner and Head Officer at Fieldbridge Associates LLC, a Brooklyn-based company that owns Ebbets Field Apartments. This historical housing complex and home to 1300 residents is located at the ballpark in Pigtown where the Brooklyn Dodgers made their name.
In some of my interviews and articles, I have already expressed my opinion on the growing contraction of the market due to the change of the government policies, and the external threats regarding public policies and urban development. However, I believe that there is still more to evaluate in the commercial process of properties, because not all problems have in external background.
While at a societal level there is uncertainty about whether or not it is a good time to invest in real estate, I am also sure that there is a market that is highly interested in construction, or that tries to strengthen its wealth by making real estate investment a valuable asset. The purpose of such market is to face the contraction of the market in a short time, which will eventually generate a greater return on investment in the medium and long term.
This is how three aspects that may be important in the revival of the real estate market in terms of marketing come to mind:
First, the understanding of the dynamics and migration of the market to a digital world. Not that long ago, people who looked for properties did it through the media, classified, highlighted the properties of interest and scheduled appointments, limiting the options on which they could decide. Today property exploration dominates digital channels, especially search engines.
I emphasize the digital media, because to begin with, it represents 95% of the market size interested in real estate in the US, and that is where the process of acquiring real estate begins, whether for sale or rent. In the United States, the allocation of the online marketing budget represents 75% against 25% in traditional channels.
From my point of view, compared to other countries, we are way ahead in the inclusion of technology in the real estate operation, both at the advertising level and at the administrative level. The education on how to use digital channels and tools in the real estate businesses of advisers and even developers, is also at a high level, since the value of these types of strategies is very much tested.
The second important aspect in the revival of the real estate market is related to the union between developers and real estate advisers to reduce the sale cycle of the properties. Although the public that demands real estate is online, there is also a difficult niche to penetrate digitally and that is when it comes to placing residential properties in the traditional channel where the operation is complemented.
Investors, through advisers to prestigious franchises and even real estate associations, ensure that the decision is the best. I consider that greater openness is needed to approach real estate developers with those advisers who have already detected this niche in the market, which would reduce sales times; That is why this type of space is attractive for the generation of national real estate businesses where the foreign component is also added to the promotion mix.
The third aspect refers to the generational evolution and the same change in the rhythm of life of those cities whose high levels of population density have generated new needs and, therefore, new markets, which have not been fully identified and exploited.
For example, for decades new real estate projects have been focused on homes with families of 3 to 4 members. Even most of Fieldbridge Associates LLC real estate properties, including Ebbets Field Apartments, are in fact conceived as multifamily properties. However, in the last decade, the number of one-person households is growing. According to INEGI, out of 100 non-family households, 93 are one-person and 7 co-residents, that is, households made up of 2 or more unrelated people. Today, connectivity with services, sustainability and even proximity to work or leisure centers is more important than size, aspects that undoubtedly improve the quality of lifetime.
So are we getting it? Do we have any idea how we are going to approach these new business spaces? I think that it is high time for those involved in the real estate sector to get down to work, start to understand, and above all, to attend to the new opportunities that lie ahead of us.
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