EDITOR’S COMMENT News of the anticipated death of the opened-ended fund, a depressing Q3 report from the RICS, LGIM’s bearish take on the market. All these things had me ready to write a wonderfully gloomy view of the market this week.
But then I remembered what else we were celebrating in these pages and thought that I’d bury those pessimistic tendencies that us journalists are afflicted with and instead share with you the view I – and we at EG – really have of this market. For those of you who were at the EG Awards last week, some of this might sound familiar. But if it does, it’s definitely worth hearing twice, right?
There is no denying that this year has been a hard year and there is no doubt that there is more hardship to come. Deal levels have plummeted, rents have softened, incentives have increased, the cost of capital and the cost of living have increased to painful levels for many. The real estate environment is changing more than it ever has before and that transformation is often painful, expensive and hard to keep up with.
But while the world feels like a tough and, in some instances, horrible place right now, for just a moment let’s focus on the good that real estate, the built environment and every single one of you can – and does – do.
This industry is an industry that has changed beyond recognition, not just from that first edition of the EG back in 1858, but in the relatively short time I’ve been lucky enough to call EG my home. Starting out as a rookie journalist in 2004 to taking over as editor in 2019, I have seen this industry grow a heart and a soul.
While the deals that make this industry tick have largely remained the same – the numbers and some of the players may have changed – the industry today is about so much more than bricks and mortar and capital and yields. It is about creating places and communities. It is about making spaces that are safe and welcoming and sustainable. And the cycle, the boom and the bust that we see, doesn’t always reflect the value that this new real estate brings.
This is an industry that is finally starting to put people first. This is an industry that understands that without a wide variety of backgrounds and a wide variety of thought in its businesses, it will never be able to successfully build, develop or retrofit spaces and places that endure – economically or environmentally.
This is an industry that is leading. It is pushing forward on doing the right things. It is taking responsibility for its actions. It is understanding the impact that it can and does have on so many things that matter to so many people. I’ve said this before on this page and I will continue to say it, but this is a sector that we at EG believe in. Wholeheartedly. We believe in the power of real estate to deliver amazing things. To create equity – in both its forms – and to do that with purpose. To do that with a real goal to build back better.
From those deals that provide the lifeblood to the firms that create the places and spaces that house extraordinary businesses and human beings, from the technologies that enable us to be better and more efficient to the individuals who are our Rising Stars and Future Leaders, this may well be an industry that is in the depth of a downturn, but this is also an industry that endures. That brings something special to places, spaces and people.
So while I fight hard against the journalistic desire to write some gloomy lines about the state of the market, instead I choose to use this page to showcase how real estate is more than. I choose to showcase how real estate is more than brick on brick and more than pound on pound. That this is a sector that creates and is creative. That this is a sector that deserves to be lifted up for the good that it does.
Yes we have some choppy waters to navigate and we can’t ignore the tough marketplace in which we operate and will likely continue to operate in for some time, but let us lift you up. So take a moment, just a moment (look at our awards coverage for inspiration) to be proud of the sector, this wonderful world of real estate, in which you operate.
The gloom will still be there tomorrow if you want it.
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@eg.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @EGPropertyNews
