Lemoyne, PA - June 30, 2020: Robin Zellers, SIOR, FRICS, CRE and President of NAI CIR, shared the current and new topics expected to have the most significant impact on real estate in 2020 and 2021, as identified by The Counselors of real estate. The COVID-19 pandemic ranked as the leading concern for the organization with 1,000 members.

"The change made by the COVID-19 crisis and its aftermath will teach us about priorities, resilience, and demand in ways we did not dare to test before," said Zellers, a real estate consultant. “The top ten topics in 2020-21 are strongly interconnected and are an attempt to put this new world on an already changing real estate environment. When examining real estate markets, we need to consider existing fragility, adaptability to new requirements and potential relevance to emerging markets. Demand will be defined to the extent that crisis causes us to abandon old habits and adopt new ones. The duration of the lock-in has been a factor, and it is also the trust with which we arise. ”

Economic renewal came second on the list of advisers, with the US economy showing signs of decline before the COVID-19 pandemic. "There were a number of statistical signals of deceleration for those who were willing to see them," Zellers said. "The challenges for the economy and the real estate industry are deep and persistent, as leisure and hospitality, retail, construction and air travel see slow and partial setbacks in 2022." The advisers mention that the impact of the economic blockade on the state and local tax revenues could reduce employment levels from non-federal governments and tailor important infrastructure projects, as such risks suggest an unusual "W-shaped" recession.

"The economy after COVID-19 will be limited by the long-term potential GDP growth of only 1.5 - 1.6 percent. That's the 'new normal' we need to prepare for, "Zellers added.

Capital market risk rounded off the three main issues of concern to The Counselors, as the last four months have not only presented real-time volatility in the capital markets, but also confirmed how quickly debt and equity liquidity can stop flowing when risk and return are difficult measuring.
"One thing we've seen since March is that volatility has risen, making debt pricing more challenging," Zellers said. “Federal intervention helped limit a complete seizure of markets, but did not necessarily alleviate long-term concerns about defaults and losses. While price stability and liquidity appear to have declined somewhat, late payments and non-performing loans have seen a marked increase. ”

The remaining problems identified by real estate advisers are public and private debt, affordable housing, flow of people, space utilization, technology and workflow, respectively, infrastructure and ESG (environmental, social and governance).

“Clients from advisors seek impartial, objective advice on the critical factors that will affect all real estate sectors today as well as the issues that may influence their decisions over the next ten years. This thought-provoking management initiative is an invaluable service for these clients and for the real estate industry in general. ”

The ten most important issues affecting real estate have been developed by advisers to the External Affairs Property Committee with issues identified, debated and voted on by the general membership. For more information and perspective on each topic, visit https://www.cre.org/topten.

About Robin Zellers, SIOR, FRICS, CRE

Robin Zellers, President of NAI CIR, is a member of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (“SIOR”), an elected fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (“FRICS”) and an invited member of The Counselors of Real Estate (“CRE ”). Zellers is a registration broker for NAI CIR, a former president of the NAI Global Members Leadership Board, current member of the NAI Global Strategic Planning Committee and former chairman of the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Counselors of Real Estate. Zellers' clients have included the Commonwealth of PA, UPMC Pinnacle, Morgan Stanley and Cantor Fitzgerald.

About real estate advisers

Real Estate Advisors is an international consortium of professional real estate agents from leading real estate, finance, law, valuation and accounting and business consulting firms as well as real estate experts in academia and government. Membership is selective and renewable by invitation, although commercial property and allied practitioners with 10 years of documented experience may apply.

Among large and small tasks, advisers have resolved the dispute between the developer of the World Trade Center and its insurance companies after September 11, leading to the privatization of US Army Housing, developed a 10-year master plan for the Philadelphia Public for several billion dollars. Schools, created and equipped the MIT Center for Real Estate and valued both the Grand Canyon and Yale University. Advisors reside in 20 countries and U.S. territories, where only 1,000 professionals have CRE credentials worldwide.

About NAI CIR

NAI CIR, based in Lemoyne, is Central Pennsylvania's oldest and largest exclusively commercial industrial real estate firm. The company was founded in 1970 and is consistently ranked as the best-producing commercial industrial sales and leasing company by the Central Pennsylvania Business Journal and by Real Capital Analytics. The company has been honored as the CoStar Power Broker in the Philadelphia Region for 15 years in a row.

NAI CIR is the central Pennsylvania representative for NAI Global, an international organization of real estate professionals with connections literally all over the world. Our transaction and management professionals are among the most experienced and successful in the company, and our platform ensures that our expertise directly benefits our customers.