Publications

- November 1, 2014: Vol. 26, Number 10

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TH Real Estate issues ‘megatrends’ report

by Mike Consol

Thematic investors are forever trying to understand and capitalize on the overarching forces that drive real estate. They just got a helping hand from TIAA Henderson Real Estate, which just published a new report identifying five megatrends with major implications for real estate.

Though well written and beautifully produced, the report did not offer any startling insights, given that the trends it identifies are already well understood. They are: urbanization, the economic power shift from the western to eastern hemisphere, rising middle classes around the world, aging populations, and global interconnectedness.

Global interconnectedness is probably the least heavily tilled of the subjects, at least with regard to real estate investing. The TH Real Estate report notes that the number of worldwide Internet users is expected to more than double from 2 billion in 2010 to 4.3 billion in 2030. The ramifications for real estate include a rapidly changing retail market, one

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