Global Real Estate Assets Rose 5% In 2020
Residential appreciation fueled the overall growth.
2 min
The insatiable appetite for home buying last year saw the world’s real estate assets—the most significant store of wealth globally—jump 5% in value to a record high in 2020, according to a report Wednesday from Savills.
Last year’s price appreciation left the total volume of global real estate assets at $326.5 trillion, a figure that’s more than all global equities and debt securities combined, and worth almost four times that of global GDP, the estate agency said.
“Government stimulus in the wake of Covid-19 means there is plenty of capital at large, and real estate is viewed as a safe store as global investors search for income in a low-interest-rate environment,” Paul Tostevin, director of the Savills world research team, said in the report.
“While real estate’s capital value annual growth of 5% in 2020 is lower than those seen in securitized debt, equities and gold, at 17%, 20% and 29% respectively, it is the extra income component of property which makes it such a compelling purchase for many buyers,” he added.
The gains were driven by the residential property sector—which accounts for 79% of all global real estate value—a market that has thrived amid the pandemic as homeowners rush to larger homes better suited for working from home and lockdown living.
The sector saw its value increase 8% last year to US$258.5 trillion, pushed up in particular by activity in China.
China is home to 30% of the world’s residential wealth, and the segment recorded gains of 13% in 2020, driven by “strong price growth coupled with the delivery of new supply,” Savills said.
After China, the U.S. accounts for 11% of the global residential wealth, and the two countries along with Japan, Germany, the U.K., France, South Korea, Canada, Italy and Australia, make up 75% of the global residential total.
The value of global commercial property, meanwhile, fell 5% in 2020 to US$32.6 trillion, and is expected to rebound in 2021 and hit a new peak by the end of the year.
Reprinted by permission of Mansion Global. Copyright 2021 Dow Jones & Company. Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Original date of publication: September 22, 2021.
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Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual
A new digital real estate site promises a full view of the housing sector, even those places not on the market
2 min
Hot on the heels of the launch of View Media Group last year, Australia’s newest proptech digital media company has gone live with its consumer-facing real estate site, view.com.au.
The new site offers a ‘freemium’ model allowing vendors to list their properties for free while having the option of further upgrades for agents looking to enhance their listings.
VGM executive chairman Anthony Catalano said the model was a ‘game changer’ in the digital real estate space.
“While VMG is much more than a portal play, it’s critical that we have a consumer-facing brand that will act as the front door to attract consumers and in turn allow us to offer products and services in a range of verticals across the property ecosystem,” Mr Catalano said. “Our plan is to create a digital real estate superstore under the new View brand that will play in the $300 billion adjacency categories rather than solely focus on the $1
billion of digital property advertising.”
“We’ve listened to the industry and the time is right for an offer to come to market with an alternative model that addresses the real estate industry’s concern at the continually
escalating price of advertising.”
The View portal is available through app stores and will include properties across the country, not just those on the market right now.
“That means view.com.au will showcase more than 11 million properties in Australia compared to some of the portals which feature around 140,000 properties for sale,” Mr Catalano said. “From Day 1 we will provide consumers with a complete view of the market.’’
View has worked with mapping partner Nearmap to create the ability to have a comprehensive overview of all properties.
“We’ve had a look globally at best practice search for property and we’ve consumer tested a range of options and without doubt the preferred experience is map-based search,” View CEO Toby Blazs said. “So unlike others in the market who default consumers to a list view, we’ll default our search results via a map.”
Mr Catalano said the innovative site was designed to be a true disruptor in the proptech sector.
“VMG continues to grow and tick off the key parts of its strategic plan,” he said. “We are well on the way to forming a global-first conglomerate of proptech assets including portals, ad tech, lead generation, lead management solutions, media planning and buying, AI services, data and connections all under the one roof.”
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual
