A study released by the Association of Real Estate Agents of Portugal (ASMIP) with its members, found that 56.5 percent of the mediation companies have lost “all contracted deals in the last two to three weeks”, about 33 percent are currently “inactive”, while 52 percent “are working only half the time, completing processes that come in, but without access to new customers and products”.
In this context, the association said in a statement, the surveyed companies said they were “in a financially bad situation, but for now stable”, if the stoppage of the activity is not too long.
“Some say they are taking the time to restructure companies to the new reality, reorganising real estate files and clients and contacting them in order to keep the relationship alive and even to meet virtually whenever necessary,” notes ASMIP in relation to the work now being under taken by those in the sector.
The 25 percent of companies that are still making visits to properties, guarantee that this “only happens in very exceptional cases, is limited to one person, and is only to complete a process that was already underway”.
As they explain, “with new customers this does not happen, due to the state of emergency restriction, but also because there are no customers available to do so”.
Among the respondents, 68 percent say they have seen business cancelled, and of these, about half point to the cancellation of up to 10 percent of the deals they had concluded and the other half to the loss of 20 percent to 30 percent of those deals.
Figures that, according to ASMIP, show “the high damage in the often weak financial structures of real estate companies, sustained in a continuity business that, suddenly, suffered an abrupt cut”.
With regard to the execution of deeds, the survey points to the cancellation of 46 percent of the total, and, for half of the companies.
Among the surveyed real estate companies, 56.5 percent said they had lost business that had already been contracted, that is, in addition to the stoppage of activity since the beginning of the quarantine, more than half of the companies stopped concluding businesses in which they had been working for days, weeks or even months.
Asked whether the use of multimedia platforms would be enough to keep customers interested in looking for a home, almost two thirds (65 percent) of respondents rejected this possibility, with 98.4 percent reporting a lower customer demand for the acquisition only by this route and 75.8 percent referring to the same in the case of leasing.
In this context, 60 percent of companies guarantee that they are already taking measures to achieve a return in activity, although the overwhelming majority point to the existing uncertainty.
“Companies that survive will go through painful cost control processes, learning to live with much less than they have hitherto, since the market will be significantly reduced, at least in the short term”, considers Francisco Bacelar, the president of the association.
Coronavirus hitting real estate hard
in Business · 09 Apr 2020, 01:00 · 5 Comments
I am interested in getting updated news
By Eptissam from Algarve on 09 Apr 2020, 12:29
We all need to think differently about land after Covid-19. City dwellers forced to isolate in apartment buildings have little joy and no source of self-grown food, with waking the dog or cycling poor alternatives to country living. Since this virus will stay with us forever, in spite of any vaccines, and since we must anticipate future restrictions and lockdowns, and in the knowledge that many of us can learn to work remotely, why not start moving back to Portugal’s underpopulated interior? We have a small horta and grow much of our own food. We stay fit and have fun working. If the government would change its property laws and commandeer all land and buildings left unoccupied for 5 years or more, it could redistribute parcels to individuals or couples committed to improving them and starting little quintas. Not land for companies like paper factories, but land for people who want a new life. New lives and new initiatives in bio-diversity and fresh food or livestock farming for areas blighted by the crazy flight of people to cities for work. Stop chasing money and discover what really matters. You have only one life.
By Jude Irwin from Beiras on 12 Apr 2020, 09:53
I like Jude Irwin's idea! It makes sense, so let's do it.
By Mui from Lisbon on 12 Apr 2020, 23:25
Please want to subscribe as a investor
By Chris Muller from Other on 19 Apr 2020, 09:33
When it is safe to fly from the USA to Portugal, I would like to explore Portugal. I am interested in moving to Portugal, eventually. Which areas have the fastest wi-fi? Some of my family members are dependent on fast and reliable internet speed for their careers.
By Ailene Ross from USA on 17 May 2020, 20:27