Real estate remains one of the most popular asset classes for investors in Europe and around the world. To stay up-to-date on the latest real estate investment trends, strategies, and opportunities, major conferences are held annually across Europe. In 2022, some of the largest real estate conferences focused on topics like sustainability, technology transformation, emerging real estate sectors, market cycle outlooks, and more. With thousands of attendees including major institutional investors, fund managers, developers, and other industry leaders, these European real estate conferences featured insightful speeches, presentations, and panel discussions. Here we highlight 5 of the top real estate conferences held in Europe in 2022 along with some key themes and takeaways from each.
MIPIM World Conference – Sustainability and Tech as Real Estate Game Changers
The annual MIPIM World real estate conference, held in Cannes, France, is one of the largest events for the global property industry. The 2022 edition took place from March 15-18 and attracted over 20,000 attendees from 100 countries. There was a strong focus this year on sustainability and technology as pivotal trends reshaping real estate markets. From eco-friendly buildings to smart city integration, experts emphasized the need for innovation and evolution in how urban spaces are designed, financed and operated going forward.
EXPO Real Conference – Germany Still Attractive Despite Challenges
Known as Europe’s biggest B2B trade fair for property and investment, EXPO REAL returned to Munich, Germany from October 4-6, 2022 after being canceled in 2021 due to the pandemic. While Germany faces challenges like rising interest rates, high inflation and energy supply fears, real estate experts still highlighted German markets like Frankfurt, Berlin and others as attractive destinations for investment. Reasons included strong fundamentals, relatively fair pricing compared to other European cities, and Germany’s stability and resistance to major housing bubbles.
Paris Real Estate Summit – Caution on Overheated Residential Sectors
At the Paris Real Estate Summit held September 28-30, over 100 speakers and thousands of attendees convened to discuss European property investment strategies and market developments. While Paris has seen surging demand for luxury residences post-lockdowns, panelists warned of prices becoming overstretched and due for potential correction. As a result, experienced French investors advised focusing more on affordable housing projects and purpose-built student housing instead of high-end apartments to find better long term value.
IREI European Conference – Logistics and Life Sciences Emerging Trends
The 2022 IREI Europe Conference took place in Amsterdam on June 28, organized by the Institutional Real Estate investment network. Amid a volatile year for markets, the event theme “Beyond the Horizon” promoted taking a forward-looking approach to real estate investing. Expert panels pointed to logistics facilities, data centers, and life sciences infrastructure as sectors seeing strong tailwinds from structural changes like rapid e-commerce growth and aging Western populations.
ULI Europe Conference – Real Estate Facing Cyclical Shifts
Over 1,000 top real estate professionals gathered in Copenhagen from October 26-28 for the Urban Land Institute’s annual Europe Conference. With property markets at potential inflection points, discussions focused on readings of the real estate cycle and macroeconomic landscape. While opinions differed on whether markets are peaking or have room to run, common ground was found around real estate no longer being shielded from rising rates, inflation and recession fears like it seemed midway through 2022.
In 2022, major real estate investment conferences like MIPIM World, EXPO Real, Paris Real Estate Summit and others provided platforms for thousands of European property experts, developers and institutional investors to network, share insights and debate the future of real estate. Key themes included sustainability, technological disruption, sector rotation, market cycle outlooks and more. With capitalism evolving along with demographic shifts and climate change, conferences debated how real estate projects and assets must adapt to meet changing tenant needs while also advancing responsible development goals.