This series of interviews with Roger M. Cooke, Chairman of Iberian Property’s Editorial Council; Pere Viñolas, CEO at Inmobiliaria Colonial; Juan Velayos, Ex-Managing Partner at Alantra; Adolfo Ramírez Escudero, Chairman Capital Markets EMEA & CEO Spain for CBRE; Cristina García-Peri, Head of Business Development at Azora; Miguel Pereda, Lar España’s Board Director & CEO of Grupo Lar; Pedro Seabra, Partner Real Estate at Explorer Investments; Filipa Arantes Pedroso, Senior Partner at Morais Leitão; Miguel Ferre, Vice-President of Global Corporation Centre EY&IE; Eric Van Leuven, Director Head of Portugal at Cushman & Wakefield; Manuel Enrich, Investor Relations Director at Sareb; Sandra Daza, General Manager at GESVALT; José Araújo, Director Real Estate Assets at Millennium BCP; Rafael Gomes Pelote, Head of Market Intelligence at Sonae Sierra; Pedro Coelho, Chairman at Square Asset Management; Ignacio Martos, Chairman at Tinsa; Carlos Portocarrero, Partner at Clifford Chance; Roberto Rey, Chairman & CEO at Gloval; Javier Hortelano De La Lastra, Managing Director & Partner at Catella Asset Management.
Apart from these Talks, Iberian Property, together with Real Asset Media, also organised a webinar on which investment on the Iberian real estate market was the main focus and which featured António Gil Machado, director at IP.
Several topics were addressed in these sessions. Among the different perspectives on the segments most and least affected by the crisis, it is consensual among the experts that retail and hotels are the segments that suffered the most and also the ones which will offer investment opportunities due to the stress their owners may suffer in the future. Logistic and offices remain resilient and we may also see the rise of other segments such as housing rental.
Governments and central banks conceived several monetary policies in order to support the segments most affected by the crisis, which despite being on the right track, might not be enough to guarantee the sector’s stability. One of the support measures which is needed, for example, is to change or even suspend taxes which are charged to owners.
Another challenge in times of pandemic is asset assessment. For the experts, market uncertainty and lack of evidence make it hard to assess assets, but this could be the right time to seek alternative ways of doing it.
It is not exactly known whether the assets’ valuations will drop, but it is known that henceforth this will be an attractive market for some players, in particular vulture investors. But there will also be enough room for other types of investors, such as core players, investment funds, REITs and even private investors.
Despite all this uncertainty which currently hovers over the economy and the real estate sector, experts are confident that the real estate market will recover quickly, although with some nuances from segment to segment. And the basis of that recovery will be the confidence passed on to the consumers.