The real estate market is entering a new phase - Trust and content as the biggest capital

Although real estate has long been more than just square footage, it represents many aspects in an economy, as well as on a personal level, trust is the key word when we talk about square footage.

In today`s rapidly changing world, the real estate sector is also experiencing new moments, it seems, never faster and never more often. While we process a new trend and say that we have understood the direction we are going with a certain class of real estate, something happens very quickly that at first glance has nothing to do with the specific class, but indirectly has an incredible impact. This is today`s reality and by all accounts, it is a guaranteed trend.

Of course, this does not apply to the housing sector, which seems to be in a never-ending expansion. With the opening of a new niche of luxurious premium apartments, we now have a complete range of offers for all types of customers. Given the level of prices at which apartments are sold in Belgrade, it is clear that the fastest and most profitable model for investors is apartment construction. As a result, location prices are formed based on the residential model, and therefore, investors who deal with commercial real estate cannot find a calculation, and that is why the sector develops less. One of the solutions is definitely investing in mixed-use projects that will have an office, hotel or retail space in addition to the residential part. One such example is the Ušće business complex with a shopping center and two business towers.

The hotel sector is also experiencing tremendous growth for several reasons. First of all, the increase in the number of overnight stays by foreign guests, major events, congresses and the like contributed to the demand for more hotel capacity. The international exhibition Expo also brought a new wave of investment in the hotel sector with significant government subsidies, which resulted in more investments in this sector.

What is missing in Belgrade are still mixed use projects, as well as the reconstruction and revival of old factories and facilities, but with maximum preservation and restoration of the buildings themselves. Such projects are the most important and the most visited throughout Europe and the world. They completely revitalize parts of the city, become new centers, hub zones, and in addition to business purposes, they also become tourist attractions. Projects like Hudson Yards in New York or Battersea Power Station in London are the best examples of turning rundown parts of the city into attractive zones that attract huge numbers of people.

When we sum it all up, it`s clear that we can no longer talk only about square footage, but we must have a broader picture that every project must have added value. Business buildings must offer additional content and become a destination and not just a place to work, mixed-use projects must be attractive in order to attract tourists and visitors who are not directly connected to the project, while shopping centers must have more content that will allow visitors to spend more time in the center, in addition to the primary goal of shopping.