Once upon a time, not so long ago, real estate was the surest thing in the world. It seemed that everyone has the same dream of getting on the property ladder and working their way up, only for their kids to follow in their footsteps.
However, soaring price levels and the rapid advance of technology has changed the real estate business in a huge way. In this blog post, we are going to look at what has changed, the reasons for these changes, and how the future looks.
The Sharing Economy
The idea of the sharing economy where people rent or borrow goods rather than buying or owning them has already working its way into the world of real estate. One of the pioneers of this field, Airbnb has already allowed many more people to ‘share’ their houses with all sorts of different people. At one end, we have primarily younger people who are focused on mobility and less on a house for life. At the other, older people who will require more social care and assisted living options that will help to keep them out of hospital for longer. For this, you could consider speaking with regional assisted living consultants.
Migration and Urbanization
A huge amount of pressure is being put on cities in the modern world due to the twin influences of migration and urbanization. A United Nations report has predicted that 86% of the developed world will be urbanized by the year 2050. Therefore, it is also predicted that a lot of urban centers will struggle to cope with the great pressure which is being piled upon them. The real estate industry may be called upon to develop new social housing concepts to deal with the changing ways in which we are living.
Automation and an Uncertain Future
The rapid advancements in technology have made the future uncertain for many people in many different industries. Many tasks are expected to be performed by robots, and jobs are likely to be less fixed. The real estate industry is one which is expected to be hit hard, and it is impossible to say what the repercussions will be to the ways in which we buy homes. But it is already much easier to scout out the property options available to you and even take virtual tours of homes without the need of a human to personally show you around.
A Mobile Workforce
The fact that jobs are less likely to need fixed locations means that location may not be the defining issue that it once was in the past when it comes to real estate. People have much more flexibility to choose where they work from, and this could end up impacting property prices all around the world. And if the big office buildings and parking lots are not needed as they once were, this is all space which could be repurposed and used in alternative ways.
Non-Traditional Funding and Finance
Online services are working hard to disrupt the current model of the financial industry. Asset management services such as I-House aim to provide people with a much greater degree of financial freedom than they once had. Not only this, they also tend to be much more affordable as they cut out the middlemen such as the banks or investment managers. This means that getting a mortgage may be an entirely different concept in the years ahead.
A Shift to the Sustainable
There is no greater threat to the humans of the future than environmental damage and climate change. The real estate industry has a big role to play in this field as the calls for sustainable housing steadily grow louder. As technology advances, the houses of the future need to be built in a way in which they conserve energy, as well as making the most of the renewable sources of power out there.
As you can see from this article, the real estate industry has already undergone some huge transformations, and there are only likely to be more in the future. These are just a few of the possible directions that the industry could be heading in. Ultimately, it is all worth considering in detail before you choose to invest yourself. If buying a property remains out of the reach of young people, the industry will have to adapt and change as necessary as people move towards alternative living arrangements. Ultimately, greater flexibility and movement is something that we can expect to see in the future.