The Future of Commercial Real Estate: Market Dynamics and Technology Trends
Guest Author: Ron Rossi, Vice President of Customer Success, RealPage IMS
RealPage IMS hosted a webinar in partnership with NREI about The Future of Commercial Real Estate: Market Dynamics and Technology Trends. Ron Rossi moderated and was joined by panelists Adam Hooper, CEO of RealCrowd; Deanna Farnell, CFO of Gelt; and Mark Roderick, Shareholder of Flaster Greenberg. With over 800 registrants, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive in regards to the content, thought leadership, and experience that everyone brought to the table.
Miss the live event? Watch it on-demand here!
In commercial real estate – an industry where timing is everything – it is crucial to be in tune with the ebbs and flows of the marketplace. These fluctuations dictate when you buy, sell, or hold in order to maximize the return on your investments. This rings true regardless of region or asset class your firm focuses on. As new real estate opportunities emerge and others fall by the wayside, an increasing number of technology solutions for CRE owners and operators are arriving with the goal of improving and driving business success. Whether you need to make data more digestible and actionable, improve your client communications, or add efficiency to transactions, there is a solution out there for you.
The panel went on to discuss many topics including market dynamics by asset class and region, access to capital and associated return expectations, the continued emergence of crowdfunding, and the major shift in investor demographics.
Deanna and Adam spoke in-depth about their experience in the multifamily space. That asset class continues to lead with respect to performance, number of acquisitions, and readily available debt and equity. Gelt has experienced great success, with continued portfolio growth and increased assets under management, as well as continuing to attract investors. And Adam echoed with the tremendous growth of RealCrowd’s investor base and the increasing number of sponsors raising equity through the application.
The discussion between Ron and Mark transitioned to the unceasing growth in the crowdfunding space and further impacts younger investors are having on the industry. Investors throughout the world, especially Millennials, have and will continue to invest in commercial real estate. There are 79.8M Millennials in America, and they spend over $1 Trillion annually. Further, 85% of Millennials either want to or already do invest in real estate, emphasizing the impact of this generational cohort. Ron went on to point out that these Millennial investors demand access to data and transparency and that they are utilizing RealPage IMS’ investor dashboard regularly.
Based on her experience, Deanna agreed that investors want information; however, Millennials want that data on-demand and in real time. Their needs can’t or won’t be met without technology.
