"The impact of Covid across real estate and the road forward!" with Ramesh Nair

One of the pioneers of professional real estate services in India, Ramesh has over 22 years of diversified and hands on expertise in most facets of the real estate business. He has worked across diverse asset classes such as office, land, retail, residential, warehousing and industrial advising leading domestic and multinational owners, investors and occupiers.

What will you learn in this webinar?

Amidst the Pandemic, there are several industries which have taken a massive blow. Real estate industry is one of those industries which has witnessed a significant amount of drop in the revenues and it has also raised some important questions among investor's community:

Is Working from home the new normal?

How this pandemic has impacted the commercial real estate industry?

This interactive session was conducted between Ramesh Nair, CEO & Country Head, JLL India and Radhika Gupta, CEO and will provide key perspectives on the above-mentioned questions of investors.

Key learnings from this webinar

Real estate as an asset class has always held an important position in the economy and in investor portfolios. The Covid-19 crisis has not only impacted the prevailing real estate market but is also likely to change the future landscape of the sector. We present to you a few trends that are likely to emerge in the post-Covid environment.

Residential Property

• Home loan rates are currently at a 15-year low. However, demand continues to be lackluster
• Housing projects are likely to get delayed due to liquidity issues and paucity of labour
• Most developers are currently focusing on selling inventory rather than launching new projects
• Previously, the residential space was filled with investors and speculators – this has now changed. Currently, a majority of the participants in this space are end-users
• In the post-Covid world we are likely to see developers focus on factors such as safety, wellness, health, and customisation

Office Property

• Occupiers will demand better quality assets, better quality building, and more focus on health and safety
• By offering better infrastructure, companies will try to attract the best talent
• On an average, approximately 15% of the workforce is expected to Work from Home (WFH). While this will reduce the demand for space, it might not have a big impact due to increased space requirements stemming from the need for social distancing
• The one-size fits all approach will not work in commercial real estate – more customis ed solutions for different types of tenants
• Traditional offices will have to make space for flexible offices while landlords will avoid steep rent increases in order to retain tenants

Industrial & Retail Property

• The impact of the pandemic has been very strong on the retail sector. Vacancy levels have gone up while several retailers are finding it challenging to stay afloat.
• Going forward, retailers will face strong competition from e-commerce which will put further pressure on their growth. Further, multiplexes are also facing competition from OTT players
• Retailers will now start focusing on omni-channel sales
• Co-working has a bright future, however, short-term is going to be challenging due to the high density at co-working spaces

Investment

• Real estate can be a good investment avenue – investors can look to gain exposure through Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)