A Snapshot of COVID-19's Impact on International Real Estate, Plus 4 Tips to Persevere

PropTech Solutions' Real Estate Platform is used by real estate companies in over 60 countries, speaking more than 40 languages. The global scale of our client base gives us unique insight into the impact COVID-19 is having on international real estate. We connect with clients around the world daily and, as you can imagine, these days we have more discussions about the coronavirus than our technology. Our clients are like family to us and we don't just care about their businesses, we care about them as people. We're confident we will all get through this pandemic and emerge stronger — together.

In the meantime, we all need to work together to do the best we can in this difficult situation. Here are a few ideas to help you with these very real challenges, as well as the impact we see on international real estate through our own data.

Here are four ways you can help your clients cope:

1. Send positive messages often. Our lead-to-close technology offers the ability to assemble comprehensive marketing communications. While you normally would use these to present homes or promote yourself to new clients, you can also use them to communicate with your clients and prospects on a different level. People in the buying or selling process today are going to be very concerned about what all this means long term. Help them understand life will go on and properties will continue to be bought and sold.

2. Put together a list of simple things that your clients can do to improve their homes. We all have to maintain social distancing, which means we have more time at home than normal. Cleaning, uncluttering, painting and trying different furniture arrangements are just a few examples of activities that require little or no money and don't need the help of professionals.

3. Assemble a list of available local professionals. Typical home repair services will be more difficult to arrange, or perhaps impossible in some cases. Collect trusted local service providers, such as plumbers, landscapers, and electricians, that are still available and share that information with your network.

4. Turn your marketing technology into a community bulletin board. Real estate agents know hundreds, sometimes thousands of people. Connect people in your network and communicate local information in ways that no one else can. Not only will you help people in this very real time of need, but you will also develop relationships that will last long after the crisis. Visit local Facebook community pages, highlight businesses giving back and celebrate the dedicated professionals working every day to save lives.

The 90-day snapshot of international real estate

As mentioned, we have customers in over 60 countries, which gives us unique insight into the impact COVID-19 has on the international real estate market. We've shared just a few key findings below. Please visit proptech-solutions.com/covid for the complete report.

In the last 90 days, our public-facing real estate websites outside of Canada and the U.S. experienced a drop in visitors by an average of 20%. Some geographic regions see a far greater impact than others. Given the volatile situation, this wasn't a surprise. The websites continue to generate property leads, but lead volume has decreased by an average of 48% since the start of this year and by 40% compared to the same time last year.

Additionally, the total inventory of active listings across all our customers has increased by approximately 15% as new listings are still being added — albeit at a reduced rate — and existing listings stay on the market longer due to a reduction in overall sold and rental listings since consumers lack confidence in the market.

As countries enact measures to restart their economic engines, record low-interest rates will make the prospect of buying properties more attractive. If we also account for the pent up demand this period of suppressed market activity will create, it's very likely we will see a period of increased real estate activity once social distancing measures are relaxed. The work agents do now to optimize and organize their contact databases, reach out to the contacts they haven't spoken to in a while, and make new virtual connections online, will pay dividends down the line.

If you're planning to expand or enter the international market once this crisis is behind us, we'd love to talk. Please contact us at [email protected]. For additional statistics, tips and information, please visit proptech-solutions.com/covid.

PropTech Solutions is the holding company of leading global real estate technology companies, GryphTech and Phoenix Software. Together, they provide a lead-to-close real estate management platform that is relied upon by real estate businesses in over 60 countries to accelerate their growth. The technology is cloud-based, multilingual, multicurrency and purpose-built to generate new opportunities, meeting the needs of the world's largest real estate brands. PropTech Solutions' CEO, Carlos Matias, was recognized as a 2020 RISMedia Newsmaker and in 2019, the company was named a Top 10 PropTech Solution Provider by CIO Applications Europe. For more information or a live demonstration of The Real Estate Platform (REP), visit www.proptech-solutions.com or email [email protected]