The Real Estate Review: To 2015… and beyond

New challenges to the global economic recovery continue to arise on what seems like a daily basis. Economic growth is decelerating in key markets around the globe and macroeconomic indicators remain mixed at best. The recent financial market disruption reflects the markets' realization that the medium-term world economic growth outlook is weaker than had been previously believed. The US has shown signs of slouching toward a double-dip recession, which would significantly impair world trade volumes and thus economic growth, particularly in the world's exporters (Germany, the Nordics, Asia).  

The Eurozone's sovereign debt issues, which have widened to engulf the entire continent and will likely lead to a European recession in 2012, have increasingly become a political issue rather than an economic one, as markets lose patience with the fragmented and reactive response from Eurozone policymakers. There is even concern whether China will be able to sustain its reported growth rates in the face of global economic weakness as it battles inflation at home. The aggregate effect of all these forces on the global economy, and its impact on real estate pricing and valuations, is unprecedented volatility and uncertainty, causing real estate capital to flow to safe havens such as prime trophy assets and secondary assets that tend to remain resilient in the face of weak demand such as non-discretionary retail and multi-family housing.

With that backdrop, in this edition of The Real Estate Review, Tim Wilson outlines 10 trends that will shape the real estate industry over the next half decade. Jennifer Lee takes a closer look at one of those trends: the impact that social media is having on the way we work and live, and its role in the real estate industry. We also provide an update on tax developments, with a specific focus on recently enacted legislation affecting stapled securities and review financial reporting considerations for real estate investment funds attracting global pools of capital from countries with different accounting regimes.