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Property
Property outlook 2020
By Louis C. Montegriffo Managing Director, BMI Group
It is clear that our way of life, how we interact and how we do our business will not just be impacted for the short term but may also be with us for the medium to longer term. The fact that a great many of us are now able to work from home and are able to do so effectively will have a knock on effect on the future planning of businesses and their office space planning requirements; it will also influence how we choose to live our lives at home and how demand for property sizes may change because of this.
Changes although hard to adjust to, will invariably bring positive elements too and will have the capacity to teach and remind us of how we may take the simple things in life for granted, how we have ignored a real call for environmental change (the skies are cleaner) and how looking after our health and taking positive steps towards it can make a real change for the better; I refer to the latter as I do not recall ever having seen so many people, cycling, power walking, jogging or enjoying the many nature trails that we have locally.
The market is dead, long live the market As outlined in our first BMI Covid-19 update in March, Gibraltar remains fully active and open for business, both in the office and remotely at home. Gibraltar has pushed hard to maintain a presence in the market. Under the lockdown we were bracing ourselves and expecting all “new business” to grind to a halt, but were surprised with the general up take by applicants. Post lockdown this has continued.
Our focus has been to maintain and manage all existing and pending sales in the pipeline and we are delighted that all have either completed or are set to do so. We see this as a good indicator of the mindset in the market and the general view that, the market wants to continue to drive the market.
Although clearly still too early to say, we are optimistic that Covid-19 will not adversely affect the market in the medium to long term. So far, applications to let and interest in residential sales portfolios suggests that although the market is substantially quieter, there is movement in lettings and sales, albeit
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Gibraltar International
www.gibraltarinternational.com
