Real Vienna 2009 - Realistic Optimism of the Real Estate Industry
In Vienna’s Congress Center Messe Wien the fourth edition of the international trade fair for trade and industry property >Real Vienna< with a focus on the countries of the CEE/SEE regions ended last Thursday (28 May 2009) evening. In the course of this fair exactly 242 exhibitors from 24 countries presented their projects and services in halls C and D, and a total of 7,082 participants from 42 countries were registered during the three days of the fair. A result which causes the organizer, Reed Exhibitions Messe Wien, to rate the fair as “quite satisfactory” when considering the global financial and economic crisis and the severely affected real estate industry.
“After last year’s boom we have now returned to
the high level of 2007“, explains Matthias Limbeck, manager in charge of this
fair theme at the organiser Reed Exhibitions Messe Wien. “A result which
corresponds almost exactly to the current status quo of the industry.” What is
relevant from Reed Exhibitions’ perspective is the fact that all Austrian and
many international key players were present at the fair, and the high numbers of
international exhibitors (58 per cent) and trade visitors (42 per cent) show
“that the imagination and the potential of these target markets remains
undaunted, and good ideas and projects as well as the interest in them are still
present. The demand for trade and industry properties and municipal development
projects is there. Yet, the banking and financial crisis has lead to a
significant halt in investments. And the >Real Vienna< is definitely the
appropriate communication hub for this market. That is why it was important that
the >Real Vienna< creates
continuity, especially in this project, and that with the fair was not only
possible to maintain the interest in existing projects but that the fair could
revive this interest”, Matthias Limbeck underlines the significance of the >Real Vienna<.
Keen Interest in the Technical and Side Programme
This could also be seen in the fair visitors’ keen interest in the events of the technical programme, emphasizes the fair manager of the >Real Vienna<, Thomas Jungreithmair. On the three theme stages that were located in the midst of the fair location a total of 45 discussions, workshops and presentations were given in which over 200 experts of the industry from Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe discussed topics current for the industry. “Full house” was the guiding theme for the top executive night at Kursalon Wien where app. 500 CEOs of the exhibiting companies as well as mayors and urban developers from the CEE and SEE regions, multiplicators and investors met for business and networking talks in a social context.
Excellent Assessment for the Fair in Visitor Survey
The degree to which the >Real Vienna< has been used for
intense contacts and conversations is also shown in the independent trade
visitor survey, carried out by the Linz (Upper Austria)-based
“market-Insitut”: According to this, more than half of the trade visitors
(54.3 per cent) have dedicated two days to the fair, one in six (15.9 per
cent) has even attended the fair on all three days. Overall or very content with
the fair were 64.2 per cent of the visitors surveyed. Almost three quarters
(72.9 per cent) of the visitors declared to be intending to recommend the >Real Vienna< to their business
partners. Almost all visitors surveyed (98 per cent) stated to have met all the
exhibitors they wanted to visit.
The interests of the trade visitors, according to the survey, was directed at (multiple answers possible) the areas of real estate financing (45 per cent), real estate development (41.3 per cent), building management (31.8 per cent) and real estate investment (31.1 per cent), followed by real estate consultancy (28.5 per cent), shopping center/retail and facility management (each 21.2 per cent), architects and planning offices, economic regions/municipalities and hotel development (each 19.9 per cent).
Exhibitor Voices: “Functional Platform for Offer and Demand in the Real Estate Economy”
The Real Vienna has lived up fully to the
expectations of being the meeting point for offer and demand”, Michael
Ehlmaier, managing associate of CPB Immobilientreuhand, sums up things after the
fair ended. “The visitor quality was very high and the mood is significantly
better than at the Expo Real in Munich last October. I clearly see a silver
lining on the horizon”.
Positive voices with regard to the fair are also heard on an international level. “Real Vienna provides an excellent portal for real estate practitioners: agents, developers, investors and financiers; to present their products and services in a well organised and business focused environment”, Simon Trappes-Lomax, CCO of the Romanian real estate management and developer Quintet Asset Management shows to be convinced of the quality of the >Real Vienna<.
Wolfgang Poppe, CEO of Vasko + Partner Ingenieure (engineers), also mentions “very positive, tangible results”. “Everybody senses of course that the situation has calmed. In contrast to the exaggerated euphoria of the past three years the market has become more concrete and has reduced itself to certain efficiency”.
Dr. Alfred Nemetschke, partner at the law firm
Schönherr Rechtsanwälte is also content with the fair: “Considering the
general economic situation we were very content with the fair. It is true that
because of the travel limitations to save costs in many companies fewer visitors
attended the fair but I was nevertheless able to see all the potential clients
I wanted to see.” The >Real
Vienna< should continue to exist as trade platform: I hope that we will
manage hold the fair again because anything else would be a
terrible loss.”
With a total of 27 exhibiting institutions and companies Poland was one of the best represented countries at the >Real Vienna<. “With five Polish regions we doubled our presence compared to last year and we were visited by high-ranking personalities from Poland, including various governors”, Polish embassy counselor Jerzy Jedrzejewski states. “We see the fair as a good opportunity for talks about future cooperations and as a functioning contact platform.”
Optimistic Image of the Mood in the Industry
The answers to questions for assessment of the
economic situation of their own industry were remarkably positive: 42.7 per
cent of the participants surveyed stated to be very content with the current
development (school grades 1 and 2 / + 3 = 85.3 per cent). Almost as many
stated that the situation will improve within the next twelve months (school
grades 1 and 2 / +3 = 91.3 per cent).
These dates alone show that the industry is not over-enthusiastic but that the situation is marked by realistic optimism”, emphasizes Reed Exhibitions manager Matthias Limbeck. “I think that these figures reflect a rather exact image of the mood, marked by decisiveness and optimism, in combination with a certain degree of caution and containment”. The results from this will become visible, at the latest, at the next >Real Vienna<: from May 18 to 20, 2010, at the Messe Wien.
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