Market Trends of Latin America Coworking Spaces Industry
This section covers the major market trends shaping the Latin America Coworking Spaces Market according to our research experts:
Growth of Coworking Spaces Market over the years
The “space-as-a-service” business model is growing rapidly. Coworking growth is evident in nearly every relevant metric, including the number of new leases, number of seats, dedicated square footage, and growth rate. The increase in remote workers, decentralization of work, and prevalence of startups and small business cultures are some of the reasons for the growth of the market. The flexible workspace occupied just 670,000 square meters of office space at the end of 2018, equivalent to just 2.8% of total inventory across the nine markets of Latin America. The Buenos Aires has the greatest share of inventory and volume of flexible workspace of the leading markets. The flexible workspace share of office inventory is even less in the secondary markets, as coworking tends to be concentrated in larger metros. Although its current market share in the real estate industry is quite less, the flexible workspace sector is growing at a rapid clip, increasing by 82% in 2018 alone.
Cost and Accounting requirement Benefits
The monthly cost of leasing a single office from a coworking provider, across the nine markets surveyed, ranges from $250 per month in Costa Rica, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janiero, to a high of $415 per month in Lima. On the surface, the basic occupancy costs appear to be slightly higher, or similar, for flexible workspace versus regular office space. However, as companies strive toward space efficiency, flexible workspace offers immediate savings and convenience, as opposed to the time and cost of reconfiguring existing office space or moving to efficient premises. The higher coworking cost to rent ratio in low-rent cities has very limited price sensitivity to coworking fees in such cities, with tenants willing to pay more for the flexibility and facilities that coworking offers. In secondary cities, firms may be testing a new location before considering a longer occupancy commitment. Flexible workspace provides the ability to initially take a small amount of space with a shorter lease term. Also according to FASB/IASB 13 changes—New accounting regulations require firms to disclose real estate lease obligations, thus increasing the visibility of a firm’s real estate strategy—and increasing pressure on corporate real estate departments to optimize portfolio performance, allowing previously inefficient or unused space to become functional and accountable to the company’s bottom line. These changes should benefit the flexible workspace sector, compelling companies to take less core space than with traditional long-term leases. Instead, they will rely more on flexible workspace operators to provide the space to accommodate temporary headcount swings. Occupiers will also increasingly rely on either a landlord or an operator to provide access to amenity spaces. These spaces include meeting rooms, training facilities and breakout areas.
