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Real estate:
A DIFFERENT INVESTMENT STRATEGY

By Martin Provencher

In 2010, Quebec real estate expert Martin Provencher published L’Immobilier en 2025 : Investir autrement [Real Estate in 2015: A Different Investment Strategy] with Éditions La Presse. The book analyzes today’s global changing world and demonstrates the value of selective horizontal real estate investment. It is well known that scarcity generates demand. At the rate things are going, we will pass the 8 billion population mark over the next decade and a half, on a planet whose living space is shrinking due to the desertification of fertile land, rising sea levels, soil erosion caused by human activity and an exponential increase in all types of pollution. In short, more inhabitants, less space! Which is why selective horizontal real estate investment is so worthwhile.

The development of the middle classes in the BRIC countries will create a huge movement towards large, environmentally healthy and safe spaces. People will naturally seek out what is most precious, such as clean air, water, vegetation and physical safety, and then move on to goods and property. As Provencher wrote, “Basically, human beings are multiplying and thus requiring more resources that inevitably require space – a lot of space! (…) Since the basis of real estate is land, future investors will no longer ask each other how many doors they own, but rather how much space.”

That’s horizontal real estate investment. Selectivity is also important, meaning that the property is located in a suitable and attractive environment. Provencher also explains that “a basic trend is gathering momentum all over the world – people are clustering together in residential enclaves. They’re no longer satisfied with just buying land. They also want to control access and protect themselves while ensuring a certain homogeneity in the types of constructions allowed and the immediate surroundings.”

A different investment strategy
A different investment strategy

In which area of the world can we hope to meet the needs of the next decade? We agree with the author’s statement:  “I firmly believe that Nostradamus was right when he described Quebec as a place of refuge. We have land, water, safety for possessions and people, respect for private property, a still healthy environment, magnificent nature and vast amounts of green and renewable energy! There’s no doubt that we have all the necessary assets to become the world’s real estate investment hotspot. I am sure of it!”

For more information: www.martinprovencher.com