COVID-19 marked a global change for all industries. With 2021 promising recovery, experts haven’t wasted time forecasting where real estate could go. Thankfully, most trends will be beneficial for companies and investors worldwide.
However, we must focus on one fact: technology makes up a considerable portion of these forecasts. Investor managers have understood the benefits of innovation: efficiency, accuracy, transparency, and convenience.
During the pandemic, these advantages were lifesavers. As the crisis subsides, they’ll quickly become the new standard. Working with a professional software implementation service is ideal for reaping all the benefits. Assetsoft also offers you everything you need for your investment management business, from accounting outsourcing to business process outsourcing.
Trends for different asset classes
Firstly, we’ll look at which asset types have experienced trend shifts during 2021. If you’re thinking about portfolio diversification, these markets are definitely worth a look.
That said, you'll probably be surprised to learn some of the upcoming asset trends. Considering which markets performed the worst during the pandemic, property managers won't expect multifamily and office real estate sectors to offer growth potential.
1. Office space slowly recovering
Investors are starting to revive their interest in office real estate. With vaccination rolling out, workers are beginning to come back to their offices.
Current developments, like IT recovery, are breeding hope for the sector to recover faster than expected at first. This trend could turn the tides for many real estate companies.
2. Multifamily assets gaining popularity
Despite its losses during the pandemic, the multifamily asset class has shown its resilience. One of the main reasons behind it is the technology behind it.
Virtual tours and other innovations have sprung interest in multifamily properties. Investors planning to diversify their portfolios will probably reconsider this market as a promising investment.
3. Debt as an asset class
Running debt has also experienced growing demand as an investment instrument. The investor community has realized the potential benefits of debt financing.
It’s akin to the previous trend toward real asset alternatives: oil, infrastructure, and gas. The debt market has shown opportunities for property ownership due to current valuations.
Technology taking over the market
As we mentioned, technology implementation is becoming a priority for most companies, and COVID-19 merely strengthened these needs. Today, investment managers have no reason to settle for traditional methodologies.
Process automation, chatbots, AI, and big data are some of the most important developments for the post-COVID world. Which technologies attract more investors within the real estate market?
Investors keep prioritizing effective PropTech implementation in real estate companies. Make sure you don’t fall behind and contact a professional service.
1. Attraction toward purely digital interactions
Today, investors are still hesitant about personally assessing an investment opportunity. That's why we've experienced fast growth in virtual tours and augmented reality.
With time, this trend might shift from being born out of health concerns to remain relevant for its convenience. That includes document storage and signing as well.
2. Automation is still gaining ground
Naturally, automation remains a substantial investment for any property manager. Nowadays, investors don't have the time to develop and stick to busy schedules due to human resources.
As such, even primary automation (chatbots and personalized listings, for instance) goes a long way in making specific investment opportunities more attractive.
3. Technology implementation remains a priority
Naturally, automation remains a substantial investment for any property manager. Nowadays, investors don't have the time to develop and stick to busy schedules due to human resources.
As such, even primary automation (chatbots and personalized listings, for instance) goes a long way in making specific investment opportunities more attractive.
4. Online services and convenience become crucial
Likewise, most people have gotten used to finding all the options and solutions they need from their phones. Finding investors will demand companies to focus on convenience via digital services.
Investor portals, intuitive websites and catalogs, and even mobile apps will significantly attract them to specific offers.
5. Self-servicing preference
In the end, all that convenience translates into empowering investors. These people will demand more information and solutions to take a primary role in creating and closing deals.
With today’s hectic landscape, there’s little interest in waiting days for a request to process. Management solutions, like Yardi, have driven the “new normal” in self-service functionality.
Management and accessibility
The final trends aren't entirely related to the real estate companies, but investors are spreading their focus to more aspects than traditional markets and plain ROI. They wish to be more involved in their investments, often learning more about the assets and needs.
That doesn’t only mean becoming interested in the investments themselves but also innovative opportunities. Primarily, investor managers desire to have instant access to actionable data about their current portfolio and options.
1. Capital isn't the sole focus
With current financial uncertainty and market risks, investors need to know more than potential profits and losses. We'll see a significant spike in requests for more information about every investment opportunity as they look to understand everything about their asset.
2. Fundraising breeding new opportunities
Fundraising has also gained considerable traction among investment groups. Putting opportunities out for investor pools makes it more affordable to access new investment chances. Today’s software allows investors to access these methods online.
3. Debt investment and compliance
As we mentioned, debt has become a primary interest for many investors. Though, these investment assets mean complicated considerations, like compliance and governance.
Offering these options is as important as educating investors about what they can expect and how to leverage them.
4. Comprehensive digital process management
Lastly, investors expect to have all the information and tools they need to evaluate and close their investments. These solutions must be digital and accessible to provide the required empowerment.
That means integrating complete systems to offer the functionality expected by a seasoned investor population. Investor portals and management suites will likely become invaluable for property managers.
How can real estate companies leverage these trends?
As usual, there’s little value in realizing upcoming trends if a company can’t take advantage of them. Since technology is the foundation for many developments, we must start on that front. The first step is to assess your current systems and what you’re missing.
Even the trends that aren’t directly related to technology benefit from finding the best solutions for your company. As you’ll see, our tips revolve around digital adoption and integration.
1. Professional technology implementation
Firstly, any company needs to consider how modern its systems are. Legacy software becomes obsolete faster than ever, and with rapid adoption being today’s norm, you can’t fall behind.
That’s because finding an expert technology implementation solution can prove to be an outstanding investment. The right software will provide investors with all the features they need to feel confident in their assets.
2. Big data analysis
If you wish to check promising markets to see if they’re still profitable, data analysis is the best way to do it. Real estate firms generate prominent big data volumes, and the right AI intelligence & data forecasting solution will turn that into a crucial competitive edge.
Likewise, integrating efficient software for data gathering and management streamlines all your data analysis efforts. Qlik is among the best systems for this task.
3. Adapting to relevant trends outside of investment management
Finally, don’t neglect other developments and trends because they’re not directly related to investment management. For instance, the ERP software market promised considerable growth in the upcoming years before COVID-19. The crisis boosted that growth.
ERP software will likely become the standard in the real estate sector, driving investor trust toward companies using this software. We can find countless other trends that can indirectly affect investment management, and the right strategy must keep them in mind. Let us help you with your investment management accounting needs.
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