Economy Watch: Technology, Taxes to Significantly Impact Economy

By D.C. Stribling

According to the 2018 Akerman U.S. Real Estate Sector survey, which major law firm Akerman LLP released on June 6, the most active real estate market segment is multifamily, according to 63 percent of the survey’s respondents. That marks a significant reversal from 2017, when 43 percent of CRE executives predicted single-family homebuilding would outpace multifamily development.

Akerman findings also show participants split almost equally behind two major elements they say will define the trajectory of U.S. commercial real estate for the next three years. Forty-eight percent of them ranked technology among the two most critical trends for the sector, along with the most extensive rewrite of the U.S. tax code in 30 years recently passed by Congress, which was cited by 42 percent.

Some two-thirds of executives surveyed (66 percent) say job creation in 2018 will be either marginally (48 percent) or significantly (18 percent) higher than in 2017. The balance (29 percent) says it will be about the same as 2017, and far fewer (5 percent) see job creation in 2018 lower than in 2017.

Overall, 46 percent of Akerman respondents share concerns on the effects rising interest rates will have on the U.S. economy, something many say could temper market momentum. About three in 10 executives (29 percent) also point to global economic worries.

The most recent annual survey is Akerman’s ninth, with a goal of capturing the view from the C-suite on the state of CRE. Akerman clients and other top real estate executives across the United States contributed to the survey through one-on-one interviews. Altogether, 209 interviews took place during the first half of 2018.