4 ways technology is influencing global real estate

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Successful investment in real estate at the global level requires an understanding of technology's far-reaching, connected influence. A recent research report from CBRE explores how advances in technology open up new, exciting opportunities globally for those looking to invest in commercial real estate.

Here are four technological factors influencing the future of global real-estate investment.

Hyperconnectivity

Rapid globalization has led to an explosion of information, services, and know-how. "The information base on global commercial real estate that's available to investors is much deeper and more accurate than ever before, and this information is accessible in real time," says Jack Fraker, managing director of CBRE's capital markets industrial practice.

As a result, investors are leveraging this wealth of information to make more informed investment decisions across a wider range of asset types and geographies.

Big data

Technology has changed the way we gather and analyze information. Investors can now track what had previously been untrackable.

Consider how the big-data revolution has transformed our analysis of urbanization. Today's populations are adopting a city-centric lifestyle more than at any other time in history. By watching the way the world is urbanizing, investors can anticipate trends in commercial real estate.

Take industrial real estate as an example. According to David Egan, CBRE's head of industrial research for the Americas, "industrial real-estate trends are tightly married to supply-chain trends, which in turn follow population trends."

E-commerce

In the increasingly popular world of e-commerce, it's easy to think there isn't a need for a retailer to have a physical presence near the customer. However, this assumption could not be further from the truth. Real estate is more important than ever, with e-commerce retailers needing to be closer to city centers where their goods are most readily distributed to ensure efficient and cost-effective delivery of goods.

Self-driving cars

Autonomous transportation is shaping up to overshadow traditional automobile operation, and it will have a big effect on real estate. Self-driving cars are also self-parking, which means future real estate will require less dedicated parking. Urban areas with poor parking ratios by today's standards will become more economically viable, a subtle but profound change.

Self-navigating vehicles will also affect delivery, supply lines, and vehicle availability across multiple industries, changing the way we use commercial and industrial real estate. Cities will adopt autonomous transportation based on legal and economic factors as local cultures adopt driverless cars.

Learn more about how technology is shaping global real estate.

This post is sponsored by CBRE.

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