For this edition of the International Market for Real Estate Professionals (Mipim), which lasts until Thursday, the organizers expect some 23.000 visitors from 90 countries, more than the 20.000 in 2021, but still less than the 27.000 in 2019, before the pandemic.
The major theme put forward by the organizers is the decarbonization of the sector, the construction of buildings and their use being major emitters of greenhouse gases.
The need is all the more imperative as it also affects the wallet, with the explosion of energy prices following the war in Ukraine.
"This subject has always been approached, sometimes less, sometimes differently, but this year, what we have decided to do with it is a fundamental axis", justifies the director of the show, Nicolas Kozubek.
“We want conversations that are as pragmatic as possible, based on specific action plans,” he says.
It is the American futurist Jeremy Rifkin, thinker of the ecological transition, who will give the opening speech.
A "Forum of elected officials" will bring together French and European leaders, in particular to talk about the sustainable city.
"Multiple Crisis"
This show comes at a time when a whole section of the real estate trades is in the doldrums: according to a study by the consulting firm EY and the Palladio Foundation, which brings together city professionals in France, the morale of leaders in the sector s is clearly degraded in 2022.
Among more than 500 professionals polled for this study, 51% say they are optimistic for the coming year, compared to 84% a year earlier.
Promoters, builders and developers are particularly struggling, the fault of a very unfavorable economic context.
"There is a multiple crisis which is both on the supply side and on the demand side. On the supply side, developers, builders, social landlords... All the players behind new residential supply are facing increases their costs", explains Vincent Desruelles, director of studies at Xerfi.
On the demand side, inflation and the rise in the cost of credit have undermined the purchasing power of buyers, both individuals and businesses.
The main French promoters, Nexity, Altarea or Kaufman & Broad, therefore all expect a difficult year 2023.
"This is the case throughout Europe," adds Rob Wilkinson, European managing director of real estate fund manager AEW.
"There are projects that are not going to be done, others that are stopped or slowed down," he said, the difficulties particularly affecting the British.
"Positive Voltage"
Part of the ecosystem, on the other hand, is far from the crisis: trades in renovation, innovation... with often overflowing order books since the health crisis.
"The world of production and technology is not worried, it is just overheated. It is difficult to distinguish between this overheating and what stems from a real industrial revolution, new needs and of the regulations, which impose forced renovation. This puts a lot of tension, but very positive, in this industrial and technological part", comments Marc Lhermitte, partner of EY.
Equally flourishing are the developers and operators of logistics platforms, a sector boosted by the development of e-commerce; or co-living, a kind of shared accommodation with services, which is spreading at high speed in metropolitan areas.
This form of housing, which mainly targets young workers, is entitled to its own summit on Monday, upstream of Mipim.