As a result of the pandemic and lockdowns in 2020, remote work became widespread worldwide, triggering a paradigm shift in the priorities of individuals and companies when choosing their living and working spaces—a shift that Portalinmobiliario in its Housing and GPS Property reports.

According to data from Portalinmobiliario in its quarterly report, listings for apartments for sale increased by 27.4%, while those for rental listings grew by 53%. As for listings for houses, rentals fell by 16.4% and sales by 44.9%. This phenomenon is mainly due to the fact that people, spending more time at home, are beginning to place much greater value on available space.

The search for more available space at the expense of location was also reflected in the demand for homes in municipalities in the Metropolitan Region such as Buin, Cerrillos, Melipilla, Padre Hurtado, Peñaflor, and Pudahuel, where the number of price quotes increased by more than 100% in one year, while municipalities such as Santiago, Independencia, and Quinta Normal saw declines compared to 2019.

The effects of the lockdown and the forced transition to remote work during the pandemic years also forced companies to adapt to the situation, which in many cases led to savings for them in terms of office space rent and investment in this type of property, while simultaneously creating a major problem for office development projects.

In early 2020, the vacancy rate for A+/A office space was 6.07%, a figure that would rise to 64% by early 2021 in the Apoquindo Oriente sector. As for Ciudad Empresarial, vacancy rates reached 19.8%, according to real estate consulting firm GPS Property, levels that forced a drop in sales and rental prices.

The pandemic changed many assumptions about the status quo in the real estate market that had prevailed until 2019, presenting new challenges for developers and landowners as they adapt to consumers’ changing needs. As of now, we are emerging from lockdowns and returning to normalcy, which offers a slightly clearer picture amid the uncertainty. We’ll see how things play out in the future.

Fernando Galaz

AGF Team