Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1437606
DECEMBER 2021 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 17 ing to pay manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) on a car right now because invento- ries are tight, and they've got the ability. In some cases, they're getting attractive financ- ing options. Some are even paying over MSRP. But that is not a typical situation for the auto industry. Typically, buyers pay about 85% of the sticker price in a normal year. It's a great time to be an auto dealer, but that's not going to last; as inventories rise, it will be much harder to sell vehicles at the sticker price. Matties: e same could be said for the real estate industry as well. It's a great time to be a realtor. We're starting to see price decreases in the real estate market. DuBravac: Right. If you look at real estate, you're going to see some pressure on pricing. Some of what has happened is people rethinking the quality of life they want—where they want to live, needing a different-sized space, wanting to be in or out of the city. When that settles out, we get a new equilibrium. What makes it different than, say, 2009 is that we don't have a lot of excess and predatory lending. So that piece of the dynamic has changed. I point this out just to say that we're not going to go into an environment where you see a free fall of housing prices. We are under inven- tory in housing because the last 10 years we've underbuilt housing. So, part of the reason prices have gone up is because there's a dearth of available homes for people. ere are pres- sures that will keep prices from deteriorating significantly. Matties: Sure. What emerging markets do you think the industries should be preparing for? DuBravac: Just in the last two weeks, we've had major announcements around virtual digital environments. Facebook obviously renamed their whole umbrella company to Meta. Micro- so announced at Microso Ignite that they were bringing Mesh to Microso Teams which EQS with unique MBUX Hyperscreen: the big in-car cinema dashboard is an assistant for the driver and front passenger which is constantly learning, thanks to artificial intelligence.