As the cover of our June edition suggests, there is a sense of ‘back to work’ across Europe as employees return to the office. And even though industry experts say growth will eventually emerge, there is still plenty of pain to come, writes editor-in-chief Robin Marriott.
In some cases, this is happening after some exceptional decisions to begin sales processes during the lockdown, such as in Germany where agents are expressing surprise that Hines pushed the button on a €400 mln office portfolio, as revealed by PropertyEU on 4 June. Which raises an interesting question.
During lockdown, to what extent have agents been making use of technology such as virtual and augmented reality to showcase assets for sale or leasing? Our reporter Dominic Gover has the answer to that in this edition.
It goes to show that there are pockets of activity across Europe. At the same time, plenty of decisions have been taken to delay things like sales and fund launches.
In the meantime, people are grappling with ‘Zoom fatigue’ and real-life issues brought about by this crisis.
There is plenty of pain to come, as reflected in our trending topic on how tenants are being urged by landlords to stick to ‘fair play’. We then cover the ‘back to work’ theme with the aid of a helpful diagram providing you with detail right down to which countries have made masks compulsory!
In our Big Interview with Aviva Investors Real Assets, CIO Mark Versey explains how things were progressing nicely…until Covid-19 put a spanner in the works. Nevertheless, he expects growth will emerge in Europe and shares the view that real estate trends pre-dating Covid-19 are being amplified.
Talking of amplification, there has been a lot of noise around how real estate has been on a great run until this pandemic, with billions of capital pouring into the property sector, further fuelling deal volume. In this latest issue, we filter the noise and dig down into data to bring you the Top 100 Dealmakers in Europe, our annual ranking of the companies that dealt the most during 2019.
As we fondly look back upon those haloed times, we also examine plenty of issues facing the industry. For example, how the ‘S’ in ESG has moved up the agenda, the acute issues in retail property and care homes, and how generally speaking folk are concerned about a global economic recession.
But we make room for the future too. To cheer us all up, we bring you 10 Rising Stars of the Industry, showcasing the tremendous multinational young talent at work in real estate. These are among the leaders of tomorrow. They started their careers in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 and are now working through the Covid-19 crisis of 2020.
