Real estate industry experts are quite optimistic about 2021 in Canada

According to Andy Warren from PwC, Canadians involved in the housing industry are significantly more optimistic about 2021 than their American counterparts.

Warren says 83% of the recent poll’s respondents believe 2021 will be a good year, while the number is only 55% in case of the U.S. In his opinion, it could be explained by the way these countries have coped with the coronavirus pandemic. Certainly, COVID-19 has changed attitudes, and Warren says we can’t rely on the usual methods.

The PwC/ULI report provides an outlook on housing investment and development tendencies, housing finance and capital markets, property segments, metropolitan areas, and other issues in the U.S. and Canada. More than 1,600 respondents were polled, including investors, fund managers, developers, property companies, lenders, brokers, advisors and consultants.

The survey says 44% are comfortable making long-term decisions in current environment. Meanwhile, 92% say certain changes due to the pandemic will remain for long even when the vaccine is developed and distributed.

“Multifamily houses will be there as long as we have affordability problems,” – noted Warren.
Investors are searching for promising niche assets, including single-family rental housing, life self-storage, production studios and data centres.

In case of the U.S., single-family rental housing is more common, especially in areas with enough land near large cities. However, Warren says it could make more inroads in Canada as people want to switch from small apartments to more space during the pandemic, even if they’re renting.

The attitude to working from home is also changing, reducing commuting and potentially improving work-life balance.
Although there will be a shift from working with many people in tight groups in offices, it doesn’t mean less space will be necessary due to physical distancing rules.

The poll says 51% of respondents believe more office space will be necessary in three years than now, due to an increased need for more physical distancing and company growth.

Another 43% say companies will search for locations with lower density.
“The offices will remain,” – noted Warren. “The office has been in place since the 1700s and is still serving a function.”

According to the survey, 93% of Canadians expect the pandemic to increase the use of technology in their companies. Necessity will become more important than the fear of missing out.

Here are the largest areas of technology investment these days: business continuity, customer engagement and sales, managing cost and efficiencies, construction technology, data analytics, cyber-security, upskilling the workforce.