Some Silver Linings Ahead in 2023: CREW Network Survey

Wendy Mann, CEO, CREW Network. Image courtesy of CREW Network

A significant number of women in commercial real estate recorded positive activity in 2022 and many have an optimistic outlook for certain sectors in 2023, according to CREW Network’s first report from its new quarterly series CREW View: CRE Women Speak.

CREW Network, which works to advance women in CRE, queried more than 1,100 women across the globe, taking the pulse of everyone from newbies to the industry all the way up to C-suite dwellers. “Data and insight drive strategy and decision-making in commercial real estate. Integrating women’s perspectives into data-driven decision-making will amplify their voices and expertise and bring more diversity of thought to decision-making,” Wendy Mann, CEO of CREW Network, told Commercial Property Executive.

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Looking at the general outcome of 2022, a whopping 40 percent of survey respondents experienced year-over-year gains. Forty-three percent of respondents closed more deals in 2022 and 45 percent saw the value of their transactions increase from 2021.

Economic outlook. Chart courtesy of CREW Network

Despite substantial overall successes in 2022, there were some disappointments. In the fourth quarter of the year, only one-fifth of respondents, 21 percent to be precise, indicated that total deal transactions and deal values surpassed their expectations. Despite some disappointments, 2022 was a good year for women in real estate.

Great expectations

While 48 percent of survey participants expect a slowdown in CRE construction starts in 2023, many are optimistic about what the year will hold in other areas of the industry. Most notably, the majority of respondents expect that the mounting pool of underutilized Class B and Class C office assets will not continue to suffer the fate of ongoing dwindling occupancies. Rather, a notable 57 percent of those queried anticipate that these struggling Class B and C properties will find new life as adaptive reuse projects.

Q4 2022 deals value. Chart courtesy of CREW Network

Furthermore, CREW View participants see a rebound ahead for the world’s central business districts. Even as hybrid work schedules move from trend to the norm, 43 percent of the women who CREW Network queried envisage an increasing number of workers making a return to the office place after years of remote work and they foresee hybrid workers working more days from the office. The increase in foot traffic will positively impact office occupancies in the CBDs, as well as occupancy rates for retail and housing in these downtown areas.

Q4 2022 number of deals. Chart courtesy of CREW Network

CREW Network did get the opinions of a few men. Four percent of survey participants identified as men; however, their responses were not included in the results. While the sampling of men was comparatively smaller, some survey responses show a notable disparity in certain areas. Compared to men, for example, twice as many women reported that the number and the value of their transactions in the fourth quarter of 2022 exceeded their expectations.