David Price from Thompson Taraz attended the AREF Vision 24 seminar on 25th January in London, hosted by M&G Real Estate. An expert panel of speakers explored what is in store for the economy, discussed the outlook for different markets, as well as how AREF can best support the real estate industry in the coming year. 

The seminar included a keynote presentation from Neil Blake, Global Head of Forecasting and Analytics/EMEA at CBRE, who gave his views for the coming year.  With property returns at -1.6% in 2023, there is cautious optimism for growth in 2024 following a turbulent couple of years.

Key takeaways included:

- Lower interest rates in 2024 are a game changer

- Yields levelling off in 2024 but would have gone further had interest rates not reversed

- Occupier market and ESG challenges still exist

- Industrial set to be the best performing sector again

- Residential also an out-performer

- Potential for a value-add boom to offices but that might have to wait until 2025