People power: Residential real estate was a surprise winner during COVID, thanks in part to a growing population Despite the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fort Lauderdale’s real estate market was extraordinarily resilient, with the well-known exception of the retail and office segments. Residential drove Broward County’s real estate growth with a surprisingly balanced market, meaning supply and demand were in equilibrium throughout the pandemic. A big part of the demand was spurred by in-migration from other parts of the country. The winning combo of a soaring e-commerce industry and the resulting exponential increase in the need for last-mile logistics helped Broward county’s industrial market claim the crown as the most valuable asset class of 2020 and early 2021. But retail remained in the doldrums through the first quarter of 2021 as illustrated by the performance of shopping malls, which suffered a negative net absorption rate and a 7.1 percent vacancy rate. In the office space, analysts are still crunching the numbers and projections remain in flux in a segment that appeared doomed at the start of the pandmeic but whose fortunes may have turned with the vaccine rollout. Employees are poised to return to a hybrid inoffice/remote work model that could either require less 68
| Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | REAL ESTATE
office footprint or an extended space to accommodate the same headcount while remaining mindful of social distancing. “Office space is going to have a rough go of it for a while,” Steve Hudson, chairman and CEO of Hudson Capital Group, told Invest:, although he doesn’t believe the trend is long term. “While most people have been working from home, I do not believe that is going to continue once life returns to normal in a year or two. I don’t believe that you will see 50% of the workforce working from home. Nothing can replace a face-toface meeting for collaboration and getting work done efficiently; so, eventually the offices will fill up again.” Landscape According to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), the Sunshine State counted a total population of 21.5 million residents in 2020. Broward County took the demographic silver medal with 1.94 million (9% of the total Florida population), second only to MiamiDade, which counted 2.8 million (13%). By 2045, FDOT estimates Florida will be home to 27.2 million inhabitants, a 5.7 million increase to which Broward will contribute 343,900 additional people, totaling ( )
