Our CEO Stefano Petri is pleased to share with you an important series of data, necessary to carry out a detailed analysis of the delicate moment we are living, related to the Covid-19 emergency.
We are living a complex moment that certainly leads us to some subjective feelings and considerations.
With this article, I would like to analyze and share some objective, important and decisive data in order to have a clearer idea of the current situation.
What you will read below is confirmed by the article published on November 26th by Il Sole 24 Ore which analyzes the findings of the Nomisma Observatory on the 13 major Italian cities on the subject of falling prices and volume of real estate transactions. We surveyed our database of customer purchasers, as well as sourced a variety of information from various analyses conducted by other institutes and facilities. First of all, it is important to be aware of the economic and financial impact that the Coronavirus is having on the Italian economy and, in general, on the world economy.
In fact, we are witnessing significant contractions in the turnover of some global giants and, at the same time, an increase in the revenues of certain commercial realities (online sales, pharmaceutical companies, courier companies). However, it is clear that global wealth is increasingly being “concentrated” on a few large nations (see China) and, within them, on specific sectors such as those mentioned above: all this inevitably leads to a lower “distribution” of wealth, both globally and nationally.
Even without having attended Bocconi, or one or more Master’s degrees in economics and finance, the fundamental assumption on which a strong economy is based is the circumstance that wealth is well distributed, in the World as well as in each country. Unfortunately, the current situation linked to Covid-19 leads to exactly the opposite situation: more and more wealth is being concentrated on a few world states and, within them, on a few people-companies.
Therefore, it is undeniable that the coming years will be complex for the economy and therefore also for finance. Certainly, this complexity will end up drastically affecting the lower spending capacity of most people/companies, to the advantage of very few people/companies.
It is also true that never as in this period, the HOUSE understood as solidity, certainty, livability, usability also as a working environment thanks to smart working, as well as, taking up an atavistic concept, as a “safe haven” where to find the protection, has assumed an absolutely central role, especially in this particular historical moment.
In addition, to these concepts is certainly added the desire of most of the buyers market to look for a house that has outdoor spaces and environments, set in a location not urbanized.
As a consequence, spacious, well-renovated houses with garden are receiving a great deal of attention from the buyers market, who are, however, “worried” about a situation of great uncertainty.
The survey we conducted on our database of buyer clients resulted in about 60% of respondents saying they are very concerned and 35% saying they are fairly concerned. This means that only 5% of the market of buyers, both national and international, is serene thinking about what will happen in the near future at an economic-financial level. Furthermore, our survey shows that nearly two-thirds of clients (64% of homebuyers) have not put aside their intention to look for a home.
In fact, after this lockdown period, as many as 23% are even more convinced to purchase a new home.
This is what emerges from our survey, carried out on a sample of about 29,000 buyer customers, and that substantially corresponds to what emerged from another research, conducted by the portal Casa.it, partner of our group for over 20 years, which involved another 3,700 buyer customers.
Among those who decided instead to postpone the purchase, about 36% did so for multiple reasons, specifically:
- because they believe that the required prices will fall, thus preferring to wait – 60% -;
- because they are not sure of their own future economic condition – 23% -;
- for various other reasons, including waiting to understand what will happen in the coming months, or not wanting to carry out physical inspections of the properties, or even for other very subjective reasons that we are not going to report in this analysis -17% -.
The conclusions we can draw from our survey
Our survey, which leads to answers very similar to those that emerged from the Casa.it researches, although addressed to a different clientele, substantially leads to these conclusions:
- Most buyer clients maintain a willingness to invest in real estate.
- There is a great will to invest which, however, appears to be “calmed” by the feeling that real estate values will decrease, combined with that of great uncertainty about the near future economic-financial situation.
What might be the possible consequences?
The restraining measures implemented in response to the epidemiological emergency by COVID-19 have modified the needs of buyers and, if on the one hand there has been an increase in the WANT OF HOME, on the other hand, there is a decrease in the REAL NUMBER OF BUYERS, both because of the concrete difficulties of moving and because of substantial doubt about the near future. Therefore, we can see a clear discrepancy between what one would like to do and what one actually does.
All these concerns, as well as the reduced possibility to travel, represent two conditions that are causing a slowdown in the real estate market, even if clients are still looking forward to actively looking for a house again.
How to make the most of this constant interest from buyer clients, despite the difficulties in conducting actual site inspections and visits to properties?
The answer is: change the approach to visits with the innovative project of Great Estate group called “VIRTUAL VISITS“. According to our survey, 90% of our customers interested in continuing their search, would like to visit the various properties now, and think that it is essential to physically visit a house before buying it. However, a very interesting fact emerges: of that 90% of customers interested in buying a house, 78% say that, before going to physically see a property, they prefer to visit it online. Indeed, 12% say that the “on-site” visit of the houses will no longer be important, and therefore they would be willing to buy even without physically seeing the property.
It is a fact that the Coronavirus will change, and has already changed, the approach to selling and visiting homes: customers will increasingly prefer to visit homes online before going to see them in person. For this, the post-Coronavirus real estate market will need new technologies and digital tools, just like Great Estate Group’s “VIRTUAL VISITS” project, on which a group of more than 10 professionals has been working for several months now, and which we will have the honour of presenting to you by December 2020.
Concluding analysis of our survey and reflections
We are the protagonists of a new way of life, and it is mandatory for everyone, and especially for the world of Real Estate, to adapt to this change.
Here’s how:
1. By making it possible to visit your property even if not physically, thanks to the project “VIRTUAL VISITS” of the Great Estate group that, as we said, we will present soon, and that you can already request by contacting your consultant or calling our headquarters.
2. Presenting your property in the best possible way, because today all buyers, just like you, need a positive thought that translates into imagining or dreaming of living a new life, better than the one we are living now: seeing a badly presented house blocks the birth of this dream.
So, even in this case, it is absolutely necessary to improve the presentation of your property through a price in line with the market, professional photos, videos, accurate descriptions and, above all, a restyling of the same, that you can achieve thanks to the advice of one of the professionals of our group, specializing in the service of Home Staging, which will advise you how best to “set up” your property.
3. Relying on real professionals who can read, and especially anticipate, the changes in the world of Real Estate.
You can find all the answers to these changes by relying on us and sharing your sales process with the professionals of the Great Estate Group.
Call now our headquarters at +39 057859050, or contact us via WhatsApp at +39 351 1667107 or send us an email to info@greatestate.it.
Whatever happens in your future depends on you and the professional or group you choose to have as a consultant. Our results are our strength.
One of the most recent is the sale of Il Paradiso Su Todi.
This sale has been realized following an interest shown by the buying customers, following:
a) an adjustment of the asking price relative to the value of the property (a fundamental basis for making a property attractive in the marketplace);
b) the possibility to see the house through a Virtual Visit, thanks to the previous realization of both a Video with Drone and the Virtual Tour of the property (another focal point: the fundamental importance of how we present a property and how this is possible even at thousands of miles away, if previously we have done an important and professional job);
c) the commitment of our professional in organizing a subsequent Virtual Tour (specifically the One to One Virtual Inspection) that allowed the Argentinean buyers to “live virtually” what, shortly thereafter, would become their new property.
If you need further confirmation of our strength, read the articles below:
Do you want to find your ideal property quickly? So, choose now the GE Property Finder
A winning video chat: Great Estate sells a farmhouse on Facetime
