Housing real estate agents globally say the coronavirus pandemic has cut their 2020 earning expectations, this is according to the Global Coronavirus Agent Survey by Juwai IQI.
The international property portal spoke to agents from over 60 countries to gauge the impact of the pandemic on the global real estate industry.
The firm noted that 82 per cent of the agents will see their earnings negatively impacted this year, and 62 per cent of agents predict the impact of the pandemic on their real estate market will last longer than three months.
Only 10 per cent of agents worldwide believe the impact from the widespread of the virus will be limited to two months or less.
Juwai IQI said looking at the findings of the survey, the loss of earnings is a widespread problem present in all of the surveyed countries.
Of those surveyed, Greek real estate agents have the worst outlook, with 95 per cent of them expecting the Coronavirus pandemic to cut their earnings in 2020, and two-thirds forecasting they will earn "significantly less."
In Singapore and Australia, 88 per cent and 84 per cent of agents expect to make less, respectively in 2020.
Malaysian and Philippine agents are the least pessimistic among those surveyed by Juwai IQI.
74 per cent of agents in Malaysia are expecting to earn less in 2020, 38 per cent expecting to earn 'significantly less' and 33 per cent expecting to earn 'a little less'. Pixabay Photo
Malaysian agents were the least pessimistic with 74 per cent of agents expecting to earn less in 2020, 38 per cent expecting to earn 'significantly less' and 33 per cent expecting to earn 'a little less'.
Increasing investment in marketing to foreigners
The survey found that 22 per cent of real estate agents in Malaysia are looking to increase their investment in marketing to foreign buyers, while 53 per cent feel the impact of the coronavirus will affect the market for over three months.
In terms of buying and selling, 68 per cent of agents globally believe this is a 'good' or 'very good' time to sell, and only nine per cent believe it is a 'bad' or 'very bad' time to sell.
The countries where agents are more negative than the global trend about selling during the Covid-19 crisis are Greece, Thailand, the Philippines, Canada and Malaysia.
In Malaysia, 35 per cent of agents believe this is a 'good' or 'very good' time to sell, but 47 per cent believe it is a 'bad' or 'very bad' time to sell.
They believe that buyers who can obtain a discount today will be rewarded later.
Juwai IQI executive chairman Georg Chmiel said that while the coronavirus has impacted markets across the board, it is seeing more real estate agents and property developers turning online to market and launch their developments.
About 18 per cent of agents globally report foreign buyers are one of their strategies.
Around 22 per cent of agents in Malaysia and Thailand said they will increase their investment in marketing to foreign buyers.
"We are seeing Chinese cross-border enquiries increasing and seeing that agents wanting to put more effort into attracting foreign buyers is great.
"We can see from China that, despite the lockdown for two months, things are getting back to normal. We will soon see a surge of pent-up activity once the market returns to normal. This will vary by country and market,” said Chmiel.
Agents continue to sell and protect their health
Real estate agents worldwide are taking pro-active steps to protect themselves from the virus, while they continue to sell houses.
The survey shows that 26 per cent of agents worldwide say their number one tactic is to isolate themselves by working at home rather than going into the office.
The second-ranked tactic and chosen by 24 per cent of agents are using hand sanitizer and washing one’s hands, while the third, selected by 18 per cent of respondents, is to prevent sick individuals from touring listings or attending meetings.
For 12 per cent of agents, the number one tactic is to stop attending open houses and inspections with potential home buyers.
For 10 per cent of agents, their key tactic during this crisis is to stop working altogether, while nine per cent of agents saying that their number one tactic is to use a mask during open houses and when around other people.
