Demand
Proximity to work has long been a leading factor in choosing an apartment. However, the pandemic has seen more people than ever working from home. But working from home also can mean working from anywhere, suggesting that people may be faced with a different set of housing choices moving forward.
Customer Experience
The apartment industry has long prided itself on high-touch customer service. However, during the pandemic, we’ve seen operating advantages for those communities that have invested in self-service technologies—from virtual and self-guided tours to on-demand maintenance and package pick-up. A fully-automated apartment experience is not far off.
Security
With everyone trying to do their part to stop the spread of the coronavirus, there’s a heightened emphasis on security. But secure access is being redefined as there’s more value placed on touchless entry and temperature scanning, potentially laying the groundwork for faster adoption of biometric access technologies.
Operations
The industry has come a long way in the adoption of energy and water efficient technologies and systems, but clean is definitely the new green in a post-pandemic world. Having healthy buildings is likely to be more important than ever for everyone from investors to residents.
Cyber
While data privacy protections are here to stay, support for contact tracing is challenging the limits and establishing a voluntary data sharing model. Moreover, while a lot of the contract tracing is happening through connected mobile devices, smart home technology may soon have a bigger role to play in these efforts.