Shanghai Real Estate Internships

 

As urbanization continues in China at a rapid speed, the need for housing its growing population and supporting the retail and commercial development growth will not die down any time soon. Meanwhile, along with the rising annual household disposable income, families can afford to upgrade their housing. Furthermore, due to the lack of investment channels and low bank interest rate, Chinese families have opted to purchasing apartments as an investment. All these factors drove up the demand for real estate property and stimulated the economy. The major challenge the industry face now is oversupply and affordability. The gap between supply and demand is huge and created a large number of vacant buildings in outskirts of major cities. In cities like Shanghai, it could cost the savings of an entire family to buy an apartment. Regarding commercial development, there is no end in sight in cities like Shanghai, were mixed-use complexes and large-scale properties are built around the clock.

 

 

Real estate internships in Shanghai can range from working in property investment and management to brokerage or private equity.

There are opportunities with Chinese and foreign-owned SMEs (small and medium-size enterprises) and, occasionally, in the offices of multi-national industry leaders as well.

Shanghai is the center of China's economic miracle, and it's skyline speaks to the growth that this city of over 20 million has experienced over the past three decades since reform and opening up.

How many skyscrapers are there in your hometown? None? One? 100?

Take whatever number you have in your head, and multiple it by 100. You probably still won't have as many skyscrapers as there are in Shanghai.

That's because in Shanghai, there are more than 4,000 skyscrapers. That's more than double the amount of New York City.

And it is home to the world's second tallest building in the world, the now under-construction Shanghai Tower, which is set for completion in 2014.

While construction in western countries advances at a sluggish page, China continues to build residential and commercial properties rapidly. For those looking to gain experience in real estate, Shanghai offers tremendous opportunities.

While many experts say that China is in the middle of a building bubble, the fact is that for now, the commercial and residential real estate sectors in China are booming.

In fact, Shanghai is ranked as the second best city for real estate investment after Tokyo, and a number of prominent and upstart real estate companies have major offices or headquarters in Shanghai.

These companies range from foreign and Chinese owned SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) to massive multinationals like Colliers and Jones Lang LaSalle. And don't forget China's homegrown giants either, like SOHO and Vanke.

If you are interested in learning about real estate investment in China, there is no better city than Shanghai.

But all you need to know about real estate in Shanghai can be summed up by the photo below, which shows Shanghai's Pudong district in 1990 and again in 2010..

Opportunities for internships in Shanghai's real estate industry seem endless- hundreds of companies, from the west, Hong Kong, Japan and mainland China all compete for the newest, hottest and best locations to redevelop. Shanghai is a city of seemingly endless construction: buildings go up, buildings come down, buildings go up. Much of the older, large buildings from the 1990s are already being bought and redeveloped with even higher-end malls (check out the IAPM mall for a good example of this!). Retail space in Shanghai has already hit a 10-year high. Shanghai Tower will be completed in 2015, possibly putting pressure on rents in Lujiazui commercial area and Shanghai as a whole, as cheaper rents result from companies moving to districts just outside of downtown.

What about residential? That's a touchy subject for many Shanghainese. Shanghai has seen large neighborhoods be bought out (some forcefully) and flattened to develop high-end apartment compounds or retail space expansion in the name of economic growth over heritage. In some ways, it is understandable. Back in 2008, a huge residential section of Pudong along the Huangpu river was wiped out to develop the land for Expo 2010. Now it's being redeveloped again into a huge multi-use complex, the largest in the city. However it's causing the older generation to "hark back to the days of Mao" to show their frustration with the lack of social equality and harmony.

With the continued growth of China's consumer market, retail expansion shows no signs of slowing. Companies will always be competing for the newest up-and-coming real estate and prime locations. With China's second and third-tier cities showing large growth, they will be next focus for global and regional companies to set up.

Photo credit Then and Now