The demographic dividend of emerging economies is increasingly being contrasted with the aging of developed economies. While the demographic dividend is seen as an opportunity for economic growth (eg. putting a bulge of young people to work), an aging society is seen as an economic problem.

What seems to be overlooked is that real estate is impacted by the demographic dividend too. When the demographic dividend kicks in, demand for investment in housing and other property is peaking too. This means when economies grey, demand for new real estate drops as a lot of real estate has been built just recently. This creates a real estate dividend: relatively low investment in real estate follows a construction boom. This lower investment level (implicitly) eases the transition from demographic dividend to an aging society. The real estate dividend counteracts the future consequences of a demographic dividend.