KUALA LUMPUR, March 31 — Real estate company Juwai IQI has noted that 82 per cent of residential real estate agents around the world say the coronavirus epidemic has cut their 2020 earning expectations.
In its first survey in over 60 countries, it said loss of earnings is a widespread problem present in all of the surveyed countries.
The survey noted 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”.
It found that 22 per cent of real estate agents in the country plan to increase their investment in marketing to foreign buyers, while 53 per cent feel that that the impact of the coronavirus will affect the market for over three months.
“In terms of buying and selling, 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.
“An astounding 82 per cent however believe that this is a good or very good time to buy property,” it said in a statement in conjunction with the release of its Global Coronavirus Agent Survey.
Meanwhile, Juwai IQI executive chairman Georg Chmiel said that while the coronavirus has impcated markets across the board, it is seeing more and more real estate agents and property developers turning online to market and launch their developments.
In fact, just over the weekend, he said, the company had a Facebook live property expo that garnered more than 90,000 views.
“We are seeing Chinese cross-border enquiries increasing and seeing that agents wanting to put more effort in 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.
“Of course, this will vary by country and market,” said Chmiel. — Bernama
