He champagne effect It’s been over for months in the housing market, but the hangover is now beginning to arrive in day-to-day activity. Purchase and sale transactions continue to be signed, but less; They take longer to close and sellers, who until now were solidly resisting the pulse of prices, are beginning to give in when it comes to negotiating the final cost; some – increasingly – they end up going down.
All this is what real estate agency professionals who deal every day with the landing of a market that, after the coronavirus pandemic, broke out in euphoria, notice on the street. The rate rise of the last year and the uncertainty about the economy in general are now making themselves felt and are consolidating the downward trend of the sector. There is a time lag until these circumstances reach the market, but we are beginning to see that it is adjusting,” he describes Emiliano Bermudezdeputy director general of Donpiso.
Statistics have been reflecting this slowdown for months. Sales, without going any further, registered a decrease of 14.4% in August in annual comparison, according to data published yesterday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). Fewer transactions are signed and those that are signed also take longer than was usual in recent years. Homes no longer fly from the window, Now they are going at a slower pace.
The experts consulted by Economic News They explain that the deadlines have been lengthened in recent months due to the difficulties in obtaining financing and the negotiations between buyer and seller. “Last year it took us an average of 53 or 54 days to close a property that was put up for sale, it didn’t take two months. Now, however, the average is around 90 days,” explains Bermúdez. They also perceive that many buyers exit the purchasing process because they are not willing or able to pay the prices they are asked, or because they cannot now access the financing they need. “Many reservations do not come to fruition,” adds the head of Donpiso.
Faced with the risk that the transaction will end up being truncated, many owners are opting for negotiation. “For the first time in recent years we are perceiving a certain willingness to negotiate among sellers, a tendency to talk more about the final price of the property,” he explains. Iñaki Unsain, real estate personal shopper. Before, the predisposition was less or almost non-existent. Demand exceeds supply by so much that the owners did not need to lower prices; If it wasn’t one buyer, it would be another. Or the next one. With negative interest rates, the options multiplied; Now those options have been reduced and photography is beginning to change: ““Sell who needs it and buy who really wants and can buy.”summarize the experts.