Tuesday 21 February 2023

‘Climate change harming real estate investments’

Major property developers have said that climate change is heavily impacting the value of real estate.

That’s according to a study conducted by Evora Global, revealing that 46% of real estate investors have seen impacts of extreme weather on their investments.

Climate change is leading to a fall in not only value but also occupancy rates, income and insurance costs – investors have said.

More than 100 investors, managing assets worth $3.3 trillion (£2.6tn) globally, were involved in the study – with almost all revealing they use ESG data to determine whether to invest now.

Their confidence in this data is not strong, they stressed, although conceded it must be used in a time when weather patterns are changing so frequently.

Extreme heat or consistent storms can significantly impact the condition of a property, which developers have been seeing more in recent years, the study states.

Sonny Masero from Evora Global said: “Climate risk is a real and present danger and investors are going to have to make changes as a result.

“When assessing value, investors need to consider future changes that could undermine historical market comparable data. There are climate risk factors which could accelerate how climate change affects value.”