Expo Real 2024 — the Valdivia Review

The VALDIVIA team spent the last few days at EXPO REAL 2024 in Munich, taking part in one of the most impor­tant real estate events in Germany. Once again, the fair provid­ed an excel­lent oppor­tu­ni­ty to find out about the latest trends and devel­op­ments and to hold valu­able discus­sions with indus­try experts and part­ners. Three intense days of inspir­ing meet­ings and new contacts lie behind us.

Although the mood was a little more subdued than last year, EXPO REAL remains a central meet­ing place for the indus­try. It was clear that we are in a chal­leng­ing but promis­ing phase. Discus­sions were more focused and concrete, and many projects were discussed again. At the same time, a certain caution was notice­able, and consid­er­able efforts are still need­ed to success­ful­ly shape the future of the prop­er­ty indus­try and move the market forward.

EXPO REAL 2024 provid­ed valu­able insights and key findings:

Real­is­tic market outlook with cautious opti­mism: Market senti­ment is char­ac­terised by real­ism, accom­pa­nied by cautious opti­mism. While oppor­tu­ni­ties remain, it is impor­tant to remain mind­ful of the asso­ci­at­ed risks.

Focus on sustain­abil­i­ty and ESG: Sustain­abil­i­ty remains a key factor, espe­cial­ly for exist­ing prop­er­ties. ESG crite­ria and resource-effi­cient construc­tion will shape the future of the indus­try, although there are still chal­lenges in putting them into practice.

Polit­i­cal action need­ed: Discus­sions high­light­ed the need for stronger polit­i­cal will and the removal of regu­la­to­ry barri­ers to sustain­ably strength­en the construc­tion and real estate industry.

Focus on digi­tal trans­for­ma­tion: The initial PropTech hype has subsided and many compa­nies are still in the process of repo­si­tion­ing them­selves in an increas­ing­ly digi­talised, AI-driven market envi­ron­ment. Howev­er, digi­tal trans­for­ma­tion is being active­ly pursued, with a focus on digi­ti­sa­tion and track­ing. The focus is on imple­ment­ing tools to increase effi­cien­cy and analyse data. Compa­nies are recog­nis­ing the need to make strate­gic adjust­ments to realise the full poten­tial of digi­tal­i­sa­tion.A wide range of prop­er­ty types in focus: There has been a partic­u­lar focus on logis­tics and indus­tri­al prop­er­ties, as well as data centres and resi­den­tial prop­er­ties, with a partic­u­lar empha­sis on social hous­ing and exist­ing prop­er­ties. Hotel and retail prop­er­ties are also increas­ing­ly coming into focus.

Strate­gic and human resources realign­ment: Compa­nies are adjust­ing their struc­tures in response to chang­ing market condi­tions. The focus is on recruit­ing expe­ri­enced managers with in-depth crisis exper­tise. At the same time, qual­i­fied candi­dates are plac­ing greater empha­sis on the strate­gic direc­tion of the compa­ny, a strong lead­er­ship culture, a posi­tive work­ing envi­ron­ment and clear mutu­al expec­ta­tions when making career decisions.

High-level network­ing: Despite more compact stands and a reduced exhi­bi­tion area, the qual­i­ty of face-to-face meet­ings remained at a consis­tent­ly high level. It was enrich­ing to meet long-stand­ing part­ners, trust­ed asso­ciates and poten­tial new busi­ness partners.

Inter­na­tion­al­i­ty: The fair under­lined its inter­na­tion­al orien­ta­tion, which reflects the increas­ing glob­al­i­sa­tion of the glob­al­i­sa­tion of the prop­er­ty indus­try through the increased use of the English language. Germany remains a high­ly attrac­tive market with signif­i­cant untapped potential.

Despite lower visi­tor numbers, the qual­i­ty of the discus­sions and the rele­vance of the topics covered were once again convinc­ing. EXPO REAL remains the lead­ing plat­form for setting ground­break­ing impuls­es for the future of the real estate indus­try and for expand­ing valu­able networks.

We look forward to build­ing on the insights and new contacts gained over the coming weeks and are already eager­ly antic­i­pat­ing EXPO REAL 2025.

(Sources: Munich Inter­na­tion­al Trade Fairs, Valdivia Consult­ing GmbH)