A new commercial real estate industry survey is indicating that realtors are less worried than in previous surveys about the presence of the pandemic and more concerned about such issues as inflation and supply chain challenges.
In fact, as part of its annual survey of commercial real estate attitudes, the Chicago-based law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP saw industry respondents placing Covid 19, which burst upon the U.S. exactly two years ago this month, as number four among its top ten worries.
The rising cost of materials, labor shortages, and supply chain problems are “much more standard economic concerns than anything related to the pandemic,” notes the National Observer in analyzing the Seyfath Shaw results.
The survey also indicated that even while receding in importance, the pandemic has left its mark on the office market, with the demand for Class B and Class C space down significantly from 2020.
Responding companies also indicated that while they had implemented work-from-home models in the wake of the pandemic, upwards of 75% said they had not been negatively impacted by those changed models.
Indicating a decided post-pandemic optimism, some 84% of respondents in the Seyfarth Shaw survey said they were feeling positive about business opportunities this year.
That optimism is seen in the remarks of Remen Okoruwa, co-founder of the rent payment app RentDrop, who recently told the publication Bigger Pockets that a complete shift from the office to home has never really happened and it “appears unlikely that it will.”
Continued Okoruwa: “As such, office and retail properties are likely to be a good investment in a post-pandemic world, as the demand will likely be higher than once expected.”
While health experts have been reluctant to declare Covid 19 a thing of the past, media outlets have proven more bullish on the topic, with the Wall Street Journal last week declaring: “The U.S. labor market is pivoting toward a post-pandemic world, with a steady stream of adults joining the labor force and employment approaching levels before Covid 19 began its rapid spread.”
Even the New York Times, which last year criticized the very phrase “post-pandemic,” in February noted the supply chain and worker shortages confronting many businesses today “make it harder for forecasters and policymakers to get a clear picture of the post-pandemic recovery.”
By Garry Boulard
