Over the last two years, Seoul and Singapore have faced tremendous changes in their housing rental markets.

The COVID-19 pandemic created more opportunities for negotiating rents around the world. In some markets, landlords are willing to negotiate rents, while others may offer shorter lease contracts or a more traditional monthly rent payment option.

The AIRINC Research Department conducts surveys of the costs of consumer goods around the world, which is divided into four main regions – Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East & Africa. Our surveys capture the cost of living for expatriate workers, so our market basket targets include trusted international brands and imports, and we collect prices in outlets frequented by international assignees.

Over six months after the first COVID-19 case was reported, countries across the world are still adjusting to the new “normal.” After conducting almost thirty real estate interviews across nine Asian cities, the difference in city positioning, restrictions, capacity, and others’ perception of each city is stark, and the executive segments of these markets are responding differently.

After eight weeks without any domestically transmitted coronavirus cases, Beijing now faces more than 180 new COVID-19 cases over the last five days. Authorities believe this recent outbreak originated at the Xinfadi wholesale farmer’s market in Fengtai District.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a historic drop in demand for petroleum products. In addition to reduction of fuel use for air and sea transport, on-road passenger travel has been impacted as consumers are driving significantly shorter distances and less often.

Last quarter, in the early stages of the global COVID-19 outbreak, I was surveying Southeast Asia. At the time of my transit through Kuala Lumpur, AirAsia had recently suspended flights from mainland China, Macau, and Hong Kong. Though normally a carrier that promotes customer self-service, the airline was diverting all travellers from these locations to the check-in counters to undergo screening questions before being allowed to proceed; in fact, they  were prohibited from using the automated-check-in machines as you can see in the photo below.

The Stockholm housing rental market has been mostly stable over the last several months, despite a steady increase in demand. Rental units are challenging to find in this near-zero vacancy market and houses are especially limited. For new assignees, there has been an increase in demand for employer-backed leases and this trend is expected to grow.

As of Feb 26, 2020, the number of confirmed cases of CoViD-19 has risen to 91 with 2 fatalities. The anxiety on the ground in Hong Kong is pervasive. In my neighborhood, for example, there was a recent Coronavirus fatality. For many residents in Hong Kong, present events are stirring memories from of our lives during SARS in 2003. I was young at the time and mostly recall the extended holidays and chatting with friends online, but the fear of older residents who lived through previous outbreaks is tangible.

Barcelona has 1.6 million residents and an annual influx of 30 million temporary residents. This excessive number of tourists has brought instability to the city’s housing market as many long-term rentals have turned into short-term furnished units to cater to demand.