THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON REAL ESTATE

AT MEMORIAL SERVICE BUSINESS

A Thesis
Presented to the Faculty of the College of Real Estate Management
ABE International Business College
Cainta Campus

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

Bachelor of Science in Real Estate Management

By

Japay, Nickie Jane

Month and year of Graduation

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 Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Population growth, food demand, plague outbreak and war risks were

brought up in 1798 with T.R. Malthus's theory of “Population Principles” in

economic theory (Malthus, 1798), although there have been outbreaks that

have been effective in multiple countries in the intervening time, none of which

have undoubtedly been as effective as COVID-19. The COVID-19 outbreak is

on its way to becoming a permanent part of human life and activities as it has

been announced by WHO in recent times (UNCTAD, 2020; Wang & Tang,

2020). The pandemic is not only a concept related to health sector, it also

brings up changes that may affect all sectors and professions. In other words,

it is tried to draw the limits of a new normal, forever, and within this framework,

what should be done for human settlements, urban space, planning, housing

and other real estate investments are still appeared to be on the discussion

agenda (Ling et al., 2020). There is a health risk effect on almost every sector

and activities and yet there is a serious pressure on economic activities. The

COVID-19 outbreak seen as an unpredictable phenomenon, has a different

characteristic than past crises which has been experienced in world time

history (Ponis & Ntalla, 2016; Çeti & Ünlüönen, 2019), pandemic has disrupted

the economic sectors and the economic system and especially in developing

economies had faced a crisis environment and had to face serious risk of a

greater loss in their economies (Nicola et al., 2020).

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 BROOKFIELD, Wis., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- More than half of

funeral directors have experienced increased cremation rates due to the

coronavirus pandemic, according to the 2020 Cremation and Burial Report,

released by the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA). The pandemic

has forever changed the way families memorialize a loved one – further

solidifying cremation as the leading end-of-life preference, and funeral

directors as unequivocal first responders in times of crisis.

While the impact of COVID-19 has been both unprecedented and

unpredictable, the shift toward cremation has been a forecasted pattern by

NFDA. In 2015, the national cremation rate surpassed the burial rate for the

first time in U.S. history. In 2020, the projected burial rate is 37.5% (down

7.7% from 2015) and projected cremation rate is 56.0% (up 8.1% from 2015).

This preference is predicted to only strengthen, with projections for 2025

indicating that the burial rate will be 30.6% (down 14.6% from 2015) and the

cremation rate 63.3% (up 15.4% from 2015).

End-of-life services have looked different in 2020 due to COVID-19,

starting with the sheer volume of deaths. An additional 200,000 U.S. deaths

are estimated this year because of the pandemic, eight out of ten of which are

adults 65 years and older, according to NFDA's 2020 Cremation and Burial

Report. That means more families than usual are planning funerals. However,

because of "safer-at-home" orders, social distancing rules and restrictions on

gatherings, most have had to postpone or revise memorialization plans. In

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fact, 50% of NFDA-member funeral homes report families postponing a loved

one's service due to COVID-19, with plans to hold some type of service with a

funeral director's assistance in later months.

Background of the Study

By October 2020, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19

worldwide passed 41 million, resulting in more than 1.1 million deaths, across

235 countries. In the weeks following the World Health Organization’s (WHO)

announcement of a global pandemic on 11 March 2020, governments around

the world imposed measures to minimize the spread of the novel coronavirus

through droplet and aerosol transmission. Although terminology for these

restrictions varies, they will be referred to throughout this article as social

distancing rules. These measures are in line with WHO’s recommendations for

standard infection control and containment strategies, limiting the gathering of

large groups of people and placing restrictions on travel. It is estimated that

unless an effective treatment or vaccine becomes available, prolonged and/or

intermittent social distancing may be needed until 2022 or even 2024.

Since COVID-19 was first reported to the WHO by Chinese authorities

on 30 December 2019, the social practices surrounding death and the

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disposal of bodies throughout the world have been shaped by legal,

behavioural and social interventions intended to contain the outbreak.

The aim of this rapid perspective review is to capture the key changes

in memorialisation practices that have taken place during the COVID-19

pandemic. Although memorialisation varies across cultures and countries, it is

the immediate and necessary transformation or adaptation of these practices

during the COVID-19 pandemic that is the focus of this review which, in the

absence of substantial research data, draws upon reports offered by

international media outlets.

Theoretical Framework

In this study, data on macro-economic change and the real estate

sector as secondary data were used to provide the base of analysis and

generalization of the prevailing situation. Due to the prevailing situation, during

and after the pandemic, which prohibits the smooth carrying out of physical

surveys in many countries and also including Turkey in particular, the

evaluation and collection of data were mainly done though the reviews of the

contents on the main stream news and media, advertisement, comments and

through this possible effects of the pandemic impacts in the real estate market

and sector have revealed.

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Conceptual Framework

The research paradigm that guided this study is shown in Figure. It

follows the Input- Process-Output approach.

Input Process Output

1. Is there a 1. Gathering of 1. The impact of

significant data Covid-19 on
relationship 2. Getting real estate at
between Covid-19 memorial
information
and the real service
estate at from other business are
memorial service references (i.e. being identified.
business? internet,
browsers) 2. The relationship
2. How the Covid-19 3. Identifying of of Covid-19
affects the prices on real estate at
using online
or real estate at memorial
memorial service survey
service
business? questionnaire.
business are
3. What are the being identified.
positive and
negative effects
of Covid-19 to the
real estate at
memorial service
business?

FEEDBACK

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Statement of the Problem

This study aims to know effect of global warming to the prices and patterns

of housing after a few years specifically, this study answers the following

questions:

1. Is there a significant relationship between Covid-19 and the real estate

at memorial service business?

2. How the Covid-19 affects the prices or real estate at memorial service

business?

3. What are the positive and negative effects of Covid-19 to the real estate

at memorial service business?

Scope and Limitations of the Study

Out of random students in ABE International Business College Cainta

Campus 10 of them were used as a sample in conducting survey. The study

limits its coverage on the ABE International Business College. Its main

purpose is to determine the impact of Covid-19 on real estate at memorial

service business.

This study had 10 respondents given the same questionnaire to

answer. And this study focuses on the impact of Covid-19 on real estate at

memorial service business.

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Significance of the Study

This study determines the impact of Covid-19 on real estate at

memorial service business. This was significant to the following:

Students – This study will help the students to have an idea that Covid-

19 affects the real estate at memorial service business. This will

make them realize that one of the most affected by this

pandemic those memorial service businesses.

Teachers – This study will help the teachers for them to become more

knowledgeable about this issue. Also in order for them to

answer their students question properly about this issue.

Future Researchers – This will help them as reference to their topic that

is related to this study. This also helps them make this study

more relevant and further expand this study.

Definition of Terms

To better understand the study, the following terms are defined

conceptually and operationally as used in the study.

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Covid-19 - is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus.

The COVID-19 virus spreads primarily through droplets of saliva

or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or

sneezes, so it’s important that you also practice respiratory

etiquette (for example, by coughing into a flexed elbow).

Real estate- Real estate is the land along with any permanent improvements

attached to the land, whether natural or man-made—including

water, trees, minerals, buildings, homes, fences, and bridges.

Real estate is a form of real property. It differs from personal

property, which are things not permanently attached to the land,

such as vehicles, boats, jewelry, furniture, and farm equipment.

Memorial Service - A ceremony to honor a deceased person; a funeral.

An informal service honoring a deceased person, especially one

that does not adhere to the traditional customs of a funeral.

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 Chapter 2

Introduction

This Chapter provides a summary and synthesis of the Impact of

covid-19 in memorial service, business to rapid perspective, review and
capture they key changes of memorialization practices of resulting from
social distancing rule implemented due to the covid-19 pandemic.

Customer Satisfaction

Changes to memorialisation practices were under way before

COVID-19, as consumer preferences shifted towards secularisation and
personalisation of ritual and ceremony. However, several key changes to
memorialisation practices connected with body preparation, funerals,
cremation, burials and rituals have taken place as a consequence of the
COVID-19 pandemic.

If new or modified rituals are to fill the gap left by the absence of
more traditional rituals that at the moment cannot be enacted, some
recommendations can be made for the bereaved, service providers and policy
makers.

It appears that the restrictions placed upon many familiar

memorialisation practices have made room for creative new expressions of
innovative memorialisation, and made these new expressions more widely
available to serve individuals, families and communities in a post-pandemic
future. While public forms of memorialisation such as funerals and wakes will
return, it is also likely that forms of collective action that gather together in
digital space, informally or in curated form, a series of individuals’ reflections
and tributes will continue. Connection in digital space obviously differs from

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connection in physical space – but it is still connection, and still provides
support

The other hand is some of funerals are irreplaceable events,

especially for bereaved family members and relatives. However, the covid-19
pandemic has prevented many people worldwide from attending their loved
ones' funerals. But the authors had the opportunity to assist one family faved
with this predicament by webcasting and recording funeral rites held near
Tokyo in june, 2020. Using oit original 360-degree Telepresence system and
smartphones eunning Zoom, we enabled the deceased's elder siblings to
remotely attend the funeral and did our utmost to make them feel present in
the funeral hall. Despite the webcasting via zoom contributing more to their
remote attendances our system, we discover thoughtful findings which could
be useful for designing remote funeral attendance. But for findings, will also
discuss how HCI designers can contribute to this highly sensitive issues,
weaving together knowledge from various domains including techno-spiritual
practices , thanato-sensitive designs and other religious and culture aspect
related to death ritual.

Measuring Customer Satisfaction

Since COVID-19 was first reported to the WHO by Chinese

authorities on 30 December 2019, the social practices surrounding death and
the disposal of bodies throughout the world have been shaped by legal,
behavioural and social interventions intended to contain the outbreak.

Prior to reviewing media reports of current changes in

memorialisation practices, it is worth outlining some pre-COVID-19 studies.
Memorialisation has received limited attention in academic research over
recent decades, with most studies taking a health services approach to grief
and bereavement. Memorialisation practices are more the domain of funeral,
cemetery and crematorium service providers, but researchers have now
begun exploring links between memorialisation and grief outcomes of the
bereaved.

Changes to memorialisation practices had been evident long before COVID-

19, with the most recent Australian industry report noting that consumers’
preferences were shifting towards higher levels of personalisation and
secularisation of rituals and ceremonies. There has also been a shift towards
desiring higher levels of engagement by family and friends, often positioned as
the community reclaiming death and dying. The use of physical space for
memorialisation practices has also undergone changes, with an increase in
roadside memorials, the scattering of ashes outside of the cemetery, a
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preference for cremation over burial due to factors including cost and the lack
of burial space in metropolitan cities. At the same time, studies showed digital
memorialisation being preferred where the death involved suicide, homicide or
the loss of a child. This enabled the bereaved to access a site of mourning
24/7 and contact others who had similar experiences.

More generally, the use of online cemeteries, virtual gravesites or

memorialised social media pages such as those on Facebook were
collectively gaining popularity with those who already use social media in their
day-to-day lives, enabling them to maintain the presence of the deceased and
facilitate an ongoing conversation with them in which others can also
participate.

Memorialisation practices are socially mediated by culture, religion and

geographic contexts, but the fundamental ethos of ‘returning to nature’ seems
to have survived secularisation. Death as a ‘natural part of life’ is common to
the majority of traditions and cultures, which may account for consumers’
increasing interest in natural or green burials as they are also known. Key
characteristics of natural burials include the use of biodegradable materials,
grave markers made of natural materials and soil that facilitates natural
decomposition. There is a subset of bereaved people who choose not to
engage in public memorialisation practices, such as funerals, rejecting the
notion that there is a ‘right way’ to grieve and avoiding public scrutiny. This
view may also be contributing to the increasing demand for ‘cremation-only’ or
‘direct-cremation’ services.

Despite the ‘reclaiming death and dying’ movement, a national survey

conducted in Australia showed that funeral providers were perceived as the
third most helpful source of support, following that of family and friends, during
bereavement. This finding was reinforced in another Australian study of
funeral providers’ perspectives on improving service outcomes for the
bereaved, citing family dysfunction as one of the most common challenges
they face in providing support, particularly where family or friends are
excluded from memorialisation.

Examples given included separation by distance or divorce and differing views

on which memorialisation practices constituted a suitable commemoration of
the deceased.

Most recently, a study in the United Kingdom found satisfaction with funeral
arrangements to be typically high, recognising that funeral services fulfil
multiple functions for bereaved persons. There is evidence to suggest that not
attending a funeral or a lack of participation in memorialisation practices may

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lead to poorer grief adjustment and bereavement outcomes, seen in children
not allowed to attend funerals and adults prohibited due to incarceration. More
research is needed to understand the impact of altered funeral practices
during COVID-19 on the mental health and grief experience of those
bereaved.

Synthesis of Reviewed Literature and Studies

SAGE Journals
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2632352420980456

Sigurdur O. Adalgeirsson and Cynthia Breazeal. 2010. MeBot: A Robotic

Platform for Socially Embodied Presence. In Proceedings of the 5th
ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (Osaka,
Japan) (HRI'10).

Michael Arnold, Martin Gibbs, Tamara Kohn, James Meese, and Bjorn
Nansen. 2017 Death and Digital Media.

BBC. 2020. Coronavirus funerals: Sri Lanka's Muslims decry Forced

cremation.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Introduction
In the study conducted, the researchers gathered information or
literature related to this study. It is divided into two parts. The first part consists
of foreign and local literature and the second part consists of foreign and local
studies.

Foreign Literature

According to BROOKFIELD, Wis., (2020) More than half of funeral

directors have experienced increased cremation rates due to the coronavirus
pandemic, according to the 2020 Cremation and Burial Report, released by
the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA). The pandemic has forever
changed the way families memorialize a loved one – further solidifying
cremation as the leading end-of-life preference, and funeral directors as
unequivocal first responders in times of crisis.

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 National Funeral Directors Association (2020), the pandemic has also
highlighted the importance of funeral directors, not only as leaders in their
communities, but also as a vital network of often overlooked first responders
during national and global crises. From natural disasters to mass tragedies,
funeral directors are on the front lines helping families navigate uncharted
territory – it is no different with COVID-19. In fact, nearly 900 funeral
professionals from across the country volunteered to assist funeral directors
and others with respectfully caring for the dead in hotspots, like New
York and Michigan, when they were experiencing spikes in COVID-related
deaths.

Local Literature

According to COVID-19 labour market impact in the Philippines (2020)

Under ECQ, only one member of the household was allowed to go out in order
to purchase essential needs. Moreover, only businesses in “essential sectors”,
or sectors considered critical to keep the economy running, were allowed to
stay open. These essential sectors include food, medicine and essential
products manufacturing, logistics and transport of essential goods, capital
markets, telecommunications, utilities and energy, media, airline and aircraft
maintenance, accredited construction activities, funeral and embalming
services and humanitarian and relief assistance. Businesses and
establishments in other sectors were enjoined to adopt work-from-home
arrangements to continue their operations. The military was sent to enforce
strict lockdown arrangements by manning checkpoints. As expected, strict
lockdown arrangements disrupted the livelihood of many workers who do not
serve in the essential sectors or are unable to carry out their tasks remotely.
Other medium- and high-risk sectors with considerable shares (more
than 20 per cent of total workers) of part-time and vulnerable employment are
transportation and storage, accommodation and food services, and real estate
activities (figure 10). This implies that workers in these sectors are likely to be
heavily impacted by the pandemic. Mass lay-offs have in fact already been
reported in these sectors. In the airline industry, for example, the drastic fall in
the number of flights has caused companies such as Philippine Airlines, Cebu
Pacific and Air Asia Philippines to take measures to reduce operational costs
through worker lay-offs.101 The industry is projected to lose about 250 billion
pesos in 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis.102 Okada Manila, a five-star hotel
and casino resort operator, laid off 1,000 employees at the end of May
2020.103 Moreover, the arts, entertainment 100 Vulnerable employment here
is defined as own-account workers and contributing family workers. 101 M.
Camus: “Mass layoffs hit PH aviation industry,” Inquirer.net, 19 June 2020.
102 D. Galvez: “PH airline industry to lose about P250 billion due to COVID-19
crisis — ACAP,” Inquirer.net, 11 May 2020. 103 R. Rivas: “Okada Manila to
lay off over 1,000 workers due to severe losses,” Rappler, 27 May 2020. 104
D. Galvez: “865,000 entertainment, audio-visual industry workers displaced by

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COVID-19 pandemic,” Inquirer. net, 29 May 2020. 105 Based on a high-
impact scenario and recreation industry, where 38 per cent of workers are
employed on part-time basis, is reported to have displaced 865,000 workers
due to the pandemic COVID-19 labour market impact in the Philippines
(2020).

Foreign Studies

MKS&H (2021) in less than a year, it feels like COVID-19 has touched
every industry in a measurable way. One of the industries that has been most
impacted is the death care industry. Funeral homes and other death care
industry businesses have had profound changes occur amidst the pandemic,
from adjusting the volume that they can handle to implementing precautions to
avoid the post-mortem spread of
COVID-19. Morticians and other funeral home workers directly handle
remains that could contain COVID-19, so many death care industry
businesses have implemented strict PPE and containment practices. Beyond
handling and processing remains, morticians also have risky duties when it
comes to meeting with families to make arrangements, collecting remains from
nursing homes and other care facilities and interacting with health care
professionals. For example, entering a nursing home where someone has
passed from COVID-19 could mean being exposed to dozens of other
individuals who could have or do have COVID-19.

MKS&H (2021) some funeral homes and morticians are working

overtime to handle the flood of COVID patients, many families are not having
traditional funerals. Cremations are the preferred option for most families, and
others are skipping the burial and more expensive burial packages due to
social distancing orders. Some death care industry businesses are busier than
ever but also struggling to get the profit that they would during an average
year. In the past, cremation has only accounted for 10% of death care industry
revenue, and they cost approximately 5-10% of what a traditional funeral
service with a casket, burial and memorial cost. While some trends are
expected to be more temporary, like the lack of a traditional memorial service
and casket, the financial impacts of the pandemic will be felt for years to come.
Those who have not performed a significant number of cremations in the past
may adapt to make them a regular part of their business and add additional
chambers. It’s likely too soon to determine whether or not today’s trends
towards cremation and inexpensive funerals will become the norm in the death
care industry.

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Local Studies

Initial labour market impacts of COVID-19 (2020), One quarter of total

employment in the Philippines is likely to be disrupted by the impact of COVID-
19 on the economy and labour market, either through decreased earnings and
working hours or complete job loss. This translates to about 10.9 million
workers. Women account for 38 per cent of the jobs at risk of COVID-19
disruption. The sectors facing medium risk of job disruption are those that are
temporarily halted by the lockdown but may recover after some transition
period. These include water supply and waste management activities;
construction; wholesale and retail trade; information and communication;
financial and insurance activities; real estate activities; and professional and
scientific services.
Interestingly, the sectoral assessment shares commonalities with those
conducted in other reports such as Abrigo et al. (2020) and TESDA (2020),
though these reports discuss the outlook on sectoral output, rather than
labour. To illustrate, Abrigo et al. (2020) find that transport, storage and
communications, manufacturing and wholesale and retail trade may suffer
substantial losses in value-added due to the pandemic. TESDA (2020)
identifies wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, real estate and renting
and business activities as sectors facing the highest risk of being impacted by
the pandemic.

Chapter 3
Introduction

This chapter to presents a desertion of the research design selection

and description of respondents research intruments, data collection procedure
and statistical treatments used.

Research Design

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 In order to see the general picture of the Impact of Covid-19 on Real
Estate at Memorial Service Business, to descriptive correlational survey method was
used.

As a descriptive study, it is collected detailed and factual information to

describe existing of phenomenal. It systematically described the situation of interest
factually and accurately. It is allowed the researcher's to careful describe and
understand the behaviour for using various statistical instrument.

Variables and Measures

The table below showed the variable and measures used in the study

Variable Measure

Sampling Design

The study used Simple Random Sampling in determining the samples

of the study. Some of My Clients in Real Estate at Memorial service business were
the respondents of this study.

Research Respondents

The researchers considered the clients of Real Estate at Memorial Service

Business to comprising of 10 members, male and female. They were the chosen
respondents because their are clients.

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Research Instrument

A questionnaire was used in gathering data. The questionnaire has 3 part's.

The questionnaire consistent of items that's determined the Impact of covid-19 on
Real Estate at Memorial Service Business.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers personally administered the research instruments to the

respondents. They conferred and discussed the significance of the study and
commplished the distribution of the Intruments properly.

The respondents were given 10 minutes to accomplish the form to

prevent them from giving Hasty responses, to collecting the accomplished
questionnaire.

After the questionnaires have been accomplish, the results were

tallied and tabulated. These data became of analysis and interpretations.

Data Analysis

In determining the Impact of Covid-19 Real Estate at Memorial Service Business,

the Likert Scale has been used. It used a five point scale: each points correspondence
to a Likert item:

Points Scale Verbal Interpretation

5 4.2 - 5 Strongly Agree
4 3.4 - 4.19 Agree
3 2.6 -3.9 Neither Agree nor
Disagree
2 1.8 -2.59 Disagree
1 1.0 - 1.79 Strongly Disagree

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Formula:

X = Ʃ WX
N

Where:

W= points (5,4,3,2,1)

X= number of respondents

N= total number of respondents

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