CORFAC International, the premier network for independently owned commercial real estate firms, asked brokers and owners from its member firms to reflect on 2020 in its first member outlook survey. The findings reveal that – after a tumultuous year caused by the pandemic and related economic downturn – CORFAC brokers have adapted their business practices, sought out new areas of opportunity, and entered 2021 with measured optimism about the year ahead.
“It’s no surprise that like every industry, commercial real estate has been profoundly impacted by the events of 2020, and yet, CORFAC members have found ways to change and grow their business, serving existing and new clients during a time of great stress and change,” said Joseph Latina, 2021 president of CORFAC International and Principal of Patterson-Woods Commercial Properties/CORFAC International, Wilmington, Delaware.
Industrial Mini-Boom
and Other Opportunities
Heightened demand in industrial real estate is leading a rebound in 2021 for CORFAC professionals. Nearly three-quarters of respondents said that the industrial and manufacturing sector was the biggest driver of business for their firms in the last six months of 2020. One survey respondent noted a “rapid increase in demand for high-bay warehouse space, particularly for ecommerce related companies.” That fits the bigger picture for the industrial real estate market in the U.S., which experienced a record 90 million square feet of net occupancy growth in the last quarter of 2020.
Where are new business opportunities coming from? Members reported it’s a mix of current clients who are expanding (63% of respondents experienced this in the last six months of 2020) and current clients who are downsizing (51%), as well as new clients relocating to the market (51%).