The 2018 edition of Expo Real set a new record with the number of international companies, cities and regions that exhibited at the three-day show in Munich this week with a rise to 2,095 from 2,003 last year, Klaus Dittrich, Chairman and CEO of Messe München, said in an announcement.
'Expo Real 2018 reflected the boom in the property sector,' he said, pointing to the fact that global real estate markets turned in their strongest performance in the first half of this year since 2007. Nine months into 2018, transaction volumes for commercial property in Germany have reached €42 bn, which represents a rise of 8% on the same period last year, according to figures from JLL.
The UK accounted for the biggest increase in exhibitors, with a rise from 16 to 47. The overall number of participants in the trade show rose by 6.6% to 44,536. Among them were mayors and CEOs from 24 European cities who discussed urban development in addition to city and government representatives. In total more than 60 young technology companies were also represented in the Real Estate Innovation Forum.
After Germany, the top 10 countries of origin among the visitors were: the UK, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, France, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, the US and Spain.
New exhibitors included leading investors and asset managers such as Aviva Investors, but also cities such as Sofia and Liverpool. A lot of the discussions focused on the opportunities and risks 10 years after the financial crisis and global investments in the current phase of the cycle. John O`Driscoll, European head of transactions at AXA IM—Real Assets, put it this way: 'We are seeing an increase in institutional capital targeting real assets […]. We are in the mature phase of the traditional real estate cycle and are also seeing some significant structural changes as demographics and the way people use physical space evolves.'
Affordable housing and digital transformation
Many of the panels and exhibitor events revolved around the need for affordable housing in leading cities around Europe. PropertyEU Editor in Chief Judi Seebus also moderated an event on the topic organised by Holland Metropole and the City of Amsterdam.
The City of Amsterdam has the intention to realize 7,500 new residential units a year, the highest number in 100 years, according to Carolien Schippers, deputy director of Amsterdam City Development (pictured here third from left in the photo). At the same time new developments must guarantee ‘inclusiveness’ and ‘sustainability’, she said, addding that the Amsterdam authorities are re-working the mix social housing versus mid-range rental accommodation and that the goal is to strengthen the middle segment from 10% of the total to 40%.
Another key theme was the digital transformation which is bringing about far-reaching change in the real estate sector. During one of the discussions, Coen van Oostrom, founder and CEO of Edge Technologies, pointed out that 'big data enables personalised smart buildings that benefit from data-based decision making and predictive behavioral patterns.'
