On the cusp of the pandemic’s second wave in Ontario, we recently asked five industry game changers to share their insights and predictions for the year ahead with regards to the pre-construction real estate industry. Here’s what they had to say...

This time is really teaching us how to be more strategic and creative, which is interesting.

We’ve launched projects recently, and the process has completely changed. It used to be, we would do separate broker and public events, and we’d invite 100 to 1,000 people. But we can’t do that anymore. Now, it’s all done online.

Online portal

We still host people at the sales office, but we’re getting more concerned with the (COVID-19) numbers going up. And, we’ve found the majority of people ask us questions online and on Zoom, and our reliance on using more digital, user-friendly tools has come to forefront. A scale model is no longer important if nobody’s coming to the sales office. But an online portal, such as Blackline, where people can spin the building and see their unit, and say, “I want a two-bedroom, 800-square-foot unit facing south. What’s available?” These tools are becoming much more engaging and important to the end user.

Will new home designs change because of the pandemic? Yes, 100 per cent. Aside from our company’s main form of business, which is to sell real estate, we’re involved with the majority of our developers right at the design stage, and we’re looking at that more carefully than ever before.

Building standards

With regards to highrise, people are looking for slightly larger units. We’re seeing more suites with workspaces and dens, as opposed to micro suites, and we’re seeing slightly larger condos coming into play. For condo amenities, we’re also determining how we divide these spaces in the event of another situation such as a pandemic.

On the lowrise side of the business, we’re seeing greater importance of including home offices, home recreation areas and outdoor spaces, and the building standards are all playing into this. Air quality control is also important in both lowrise and highrise housing now.