What are the thoughts of industry leaders on some of the biggest issues of the day? To find out, Commercial Property News poses a question every month to insightful executives with an expert's view of the commercial real estate landscape.
This month's question: America's population is changing fast, thanks to an increase in the number of immigrants and a general public that is aging but living longer. In what ways is this impacting the real estate industry?
Stan Rosscolor>
Chairman
Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern Californiacolor>
Population growth drives demand in all sectors, so you get demand from an immigrant group for affordable housing, rental and for-sale (properties). The immigrant groups drive demand with respect to small industrial entrepreneurial activity, and they drive very small retail; naturally they are in urban areas and gateway cities.
As far as seniors are concerned, those with a high discretionary income impact real estate in second home and resort sites. We affect real estate on the retail side. There are two groups of seniors and two ways we affect real estate. One group downsizes and becomes a new household owner, and the other moves to McMansions, which are small lots with a lot of square footage and lots of room for grandchildren to come. They're in a little community. You have neighbors, and it's not on big acreage or in a rural area. On the retail side, (aging) consumers have a lot of income, so they are obviously buyers and drivers of that market. They drive increased retail activity. Then you have, as we age, options of the retirement community and its new forms, the senior citizens housing or assisted housing.