LOS ANGELES—“This industrial-era concept that there is a separation between work and home is becoming increasingly less relevant,” says Elie Finegold, SVP of global innovation and business intelligence at CBRE Group Inc. “Because you can work from anywhere, space has become more fungible.” This new reality is forcing a radical transformation of how people think about real estate, Finegold says.

In the current issue of CBRE's online Blueprint magazine, Finegold cites three emerging trends that are transforming the way people will use real estate in the future. First of these is “radical mobility,” which takes off from the premise that people can now routinely perform work-related duties far away from the workplace.

“There's a whole set of tasks that were once capable of only being done in an office that we can now do from anywhere,” Finegold tells Blueprint. “And though working face-to-face with others will likely never become obsolete, companies are going to be looking for much more adaptable real estate frameworks as a way of managing both flex in the workforce and the diversity of working habits.”

The second emerging trend cited by Finegold is “collaborative economy.” With people increasingly sharing and crowdsourcing goods, services, funding and transportation, the real estate market had better adapt to new ways of distributing demands, he says.

Take Airbnb and Uber as examples. Both arose from the sharing economy, and both offer unique income streams for people who need extra cash or more flexible work situations, Finegold says. And just as people may prefer to rent apartments or cars rather than own them as they relocate to cities, in the future they may find that coworking space supersedes the need for traditional office space.

That's especially the case as more Americans go into business for themselves. By 2020, 40% of the American workforce will be freelancers, contractors and temp workers, according to a 2013 survey conducted by software firm Intuit.

Third of the trends Finegold identifies is the “transportation revolution.” He says the rise of autonomous vehicles and transportation—such as self-driving cars and distribution drones—will combine with collaborative models like Uber to make it easier for people and goods to move around more freely.

This trend may also ultimately change infrastructure needs, Finegold says. We may see a reduction in the number of cars on the road or in parking lots at any given moment, while simultaneously creating a competitive market for space utilization. “There will be huge opportunities for redevelopment of spaces previously used for personal vehicles, from streetside parking spots to multilevel parking decks,” he says.

Although the realization of some of these trends may be in the distant future, Finegold says aspects of all three already exist and are quickly creating new modes for people to access real estate. “If you take all of these things together, they are breaking down traditional work/life balances and changing the real estate landscape,” he says. “Companies are attracted to places where there are live/work opportunities for employees.” Click here for the complete Blueprint story.