How the Coronavirus Could Impact the American Real Estate Market
There is no denying the impact the coronavirus (COVID-19) is having on the global economy is troubling. China, the world's second largest economy, has the largest outbreak with over 80,000 cases reported and 3,015 deaths as of this writing and has suffered the greatest. The virus has halted production and caused major interruptions to the supply chain and economic volatility, and it could lead to an estimated $2.7 trillion in lost global output, according to Bloomberg Economics.
Watching China's production and economy falter has people questioning how the coronavirus could impact the American real estate market.
Foreign buyers will increase, at least for a while
Considering China is the largest foreign buyer of residential real estate as of The National Association of Realtors' (NAR) 2019 International Activity in the U.S. Residential Market, accounting for $13.4 billion of $77.9 billion, or 17.2% of the foreign market share, the coronavirus could greatly impact investor activity, but surprisingly in a positive way.
Recently, China's foreign investment in American real estate saw a decline, which many economists attribute to the lower inventory in the U.S., the U.S.-China trade war, and the strengthening dollar.
But as confidence in their own real estate and other foreign markets falters, investors are moving their money into hard assets, like real estate, in areas like the United States, who to this point has not suffered greatly from the spread of the disease. Roofstock, a popular online marketplace for real estate investors to purchase or sell rental real estate, has seen a 450% increase in traffic from Asian countries in the past month.
Revenue and growth in CRE will slow
In the event of a full-blown outbreak here in the U.S., commercial real estate (CRE) would be the hardest hit. Production and economic activity will slow because people will likely stay indoors, lowering consumer spending. Default rates in CRE loans would increase, and production and development would decline.
A number of companies and CRE investors are trying to plan ahead by taking increased measures to reduce the spread of the virus, especially in properties that house or employ multiple people.
Bryan Murphy, CEO of global private, flexible office space provider Breather, tells me he has already implemented "an enhanced cleaning and disinfecting process following guidance from the CDC to ensure Breather's customers are safe and healthy and reduce the potential spread of the virus."
Companies like Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), and Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) are also planning to prevent the spread of the virus by asking employees to work from home. While these methods can help, CRE investors should have a contingency plan to fall back on in case the virus isn't contained as intended.
Shaky ground gets shakier
The global market and American economy was already on shaky ground prior to the coronavirus outbreak. I previously wrote about a number of signs in our economy that indicate a possible recession in 2020. Those indicators have only been perpetuated as investors' fears about the spread of the coronavirus and impact on the global market grow...
