Track: Graduate Student Paper Competition

Abstract

Coronavirus is a global disease triggered by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS -COV-2). The virus has put the globe's public health in danger and affected the global economy since it first appeared in Wuhan, China in November 2019 and speedily spread to Europe and other parts of the universe. Confirmed cases of the pandemic infection according to WHO (2022) as of the 7^th of August 2022 stood at 589,246,575 with about 6,436,274 reported cases of deaths. The world’s gross domestic product also experienced a decline of about 6.7 percent in 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic outbreak. The global real estate sector was not left out as the industry also faces similar challenges in different ways, and despite the general optimism about curtailing the impact of the pandemic, it yet remains a risk to economic growth and stabilization of the real estate industry. This paper, hence, undertakes a serious analysis of the literature and presents the findings of various studies on the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the real estate industry, and suggests appropriate measures to adopt against similar emergency health challenges in the future that could endanger the industry’s survival. Documentary pieces of evidence were obtained from various secondary sources related to the issue and were reviewed accordingly. The findings of this study as obtained from the literature revealed that the covid-19 pandemic has had a significant detrimental effect on the real estate industry and still remains a risk to the stabilization of the industry. The study, therefore, suggests that industry players should act fast in adopting various digital technologies appropriate to real estate practices as well as the need for business diversification in order to save the industry from a state of vulnerability in case of future emergencies or challenges.