In today’s quarantine episode, Aaron and Adam are joined remotely by Roelof van Dijk. He works with CoStar Canada as their Director of Market Analytics. In this role, Roelof and his team decipher the real estate information that get put into CoStar’s database to determine what is happening in the market and what will happen in the future.
Roelof shares his thoughts on how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting each real estate asset class, while predicting how they will look a few months from now. The three discuss how unemployment in Canada will affect vacancy rates and when the economy will rebound.
Topics covered include:
- Strong fundamentals heading into the pandemic.
- Where Toronto’s vacancy rate is heading.
- The amplified growth curve of e-commerce and the impending pain for retail.
- CoStar’s goal to create transparency in North American real estate.
- Why CoStar has begun using drones.
- Predicting what is going to happen over the next few months in different asset classes, starting with office.
- Allowing employees to work from home and how offices have gotten smaller over the years.
- Possible increased demand for meeting spaces.
- Delays in construction.
- The breaking down of international supply chains.
- How multifamily has been affected by COVID-19.
- Unemployment projections for Canada.
- Plans to buy a house changing for young people.
- The rebound of the Canadian economy after the pandemic.
For more commercial real estate content, visit the First National Commercial Resource Centre.
More about the guest:
Roelof van Dijk serves as the Director of Market Analytics and Market Economist for Canada with the CoStar Group, the leading provider of commercial real estate information, analytics and online marketplaces.
With 15 years of experience covering the Canadian real estate market, Roelof is regularly called upon to speak at industry conferences and to industry organizations. Roelof has authored numerous articles and has appeared on BNN Bloomberg Television and CBC Radio. Roelof is also often quoted in the national press, such as the Globe & Mail, CBC News, Bloomberg and the National Post, as well as in the local press across Canada.
Before joining the CoStar Group, Roelof managed CBRE Canada’s National Research Platform and was a member of CBRE Canada’s National Management Team. Prior to this, he worked as a Project Manager and Urban Planning Consultant for residential developers in the Greater Toronto Area. Roelof holds an MBA with a focus on real estate, and a degree in Urban and Regional Planning.
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