The Existential Crisis in Asia – In the vast urban metropolises of Asia, no commodity is more precious than a place to call your own. It is a concerning fact of life that thousands of young professionals have no hope for the housing market, and even struggle to find a landlord that will offer them long-term accommodation that does not strain their budget. And the market has become complacent with this situation because the influx of tourists and the success of multinational corporations means there’s no immediately obvious downward trend. However, mounting issues have been noted and, in recent years, a twist on the old formula has emerged.
Armies of professionals move from one metropolis to another, leaving where their work takes them. For many, this means that their life away from work becomes a blur of hotel rooms, temporary accommodation, and the feeling of alienation becomes heartfelt. Especially in Asia, where it’s often hard to find a place that ties with your identity, but also an environment that does not constrain you and where your salary feels every extra square meter of space.
A Hybrid Solution for the Modern Traveller – Furnished apartments for rent started as a niche market that utilized a good business sense which dictates that one should never be complacent with the market formula, but must seek to improve it; and both the workforce and the tourists visiting countries like Japan and South Korea have recognized this opportunity. In fact, Asia is one of those places where companies have struggled to keep up with the demand. This has turned into an upward trend that became easy to predict.
But the idea comes before the industry is created. Serviced apartments are a hybrid, created to serve a new type of business traveler, someone who lives from one contract to another, and is looking to get some bearings in the ever-changing surroundings. They are envisioned as a home away from home, a place to call your own after a busy day at the office, and a space that carries a personal note. They are not just prefabricated condominium units, each can be custom fit to offer an amount of privacy that a random apartment for rent or a faceless hotel corridor cannot.
The Space that Drives the Market – According to the report by The Apartment Service, there is now more than a million of serviced apartments worldwide, with the growth projection of 23.7%. More than half of surveyed companies now utilize their services, experiencing significant savings and an upturn in employee satisfaction, with an edge over the competition.
If two or more people are sharing a unit, it becomes easy to maintain a sense of privacy because this means they’re – literally – not on the same level. Separate dining, sleeping and living areas, carefully adjusted to personal needs, enable enough room for each person in the household, and this type of preplanned sharing does wonders in preventing alienation.