Property market focusing on “Foreigners and cheaper houses”

To overcome the challenges facing the property market, real estate consultants “have to focus on where the market is: foreigners and houses at lower prices”, defended João Oliveira, CEO of Realty One Group Portugal, in the first edition of the Business Conference, according to a report by idealista.

Taking into account the current economic context, João Oliveira admits that “it is normal to have market changes and cycles”, anticipating that the real estate market even “will go down a little”. But he considers that in Portugal the changes in the market will be different from those already felt in other countries.

“In Portugal, some of the normal changes that are happening in other countries are not felt so much. Demand is high and there is little supply. And the Euribor rise will lead families to look for lower value properties”, explains the person responsible for Realty One Group Portugal. That is, a family that previously had the purchasing power to purchase a property for 250,000 euros is now looking for a house at a much lower price, such as 200,000 euros, pointed out the expert as an example.

On the other hand, the “Portuguese real estate market remains very interesting for investors”, says João Oliveira, stressing that foreigners continue to invest in the country. "The North Americans are buying a lot in Portugal, as well as the French and Brazilians", he noted.

The CEO of Realty One Portugal thus sees two opportunities to do business in the Portuguese real estate market in 2023. “We have to focus on where the market is: foreigners and houses at lower prices”, concluded João Oliveira.

Optimism is the secret

The same opinion is shared by Vinnie Tracey, President of Realty One Group in the USA, who was present at the meeting. “The real estate market has always been a cycle. It is constantly changing and there will be winners and losers. The winners know how to frame things in a positive way, which focuses their real estate professionals on how to take advantage of market forces”, he said in statements to idealista/news.

He explained that if the US real estate market accounts for 6 million homes sold, it is a “good year”. If there are 5 million it is an “average year”. And if 4 million homes are sold it is a “bad year”.

In this context, the specialist, with around 40 years of experience in the real estate market, shares that in 2021, 6.3 million homes were sold in the USA. And forecasts suggest that in 2023 4.4 million homes will be sold. “Good leaders focus on the 70% of homes sold,” said Vinnie Tracey.

And for this to be possible, he tells his “real estate agents to differentiate themselves and focus on where the market is” and understand why people sell and buy. “It is at this point that we have to realise that life changes, there are job changes, there are births, deaths, health problems, retired people… All of this forces people to make decisions. And therefore, we have to direct the business to where the market is. We must always have a positive attitude”.

The advice of the president of Realty One Group in the USA is that real estate agents do not focus on the negative aspects that mark the present and can influence business. “People have a negative view, given the news about rising interest rates, high construction costs. But it's in the way we deal with the circumstances that the results are. And he also warns that “if people focus too much on the negative part, that the market has dropped X%, they get scared and, therefore, the result will not be good”.

This article first appeared on The Portgual News, read the article here.