Any day is good to celebrate

All pretexts are good for celebrating the fruits of our labor. But this particular week, when KW Portugal celebrates the 7th anniversary , of a short existence but full of successes, I could not fail to mark it with a small balance of my real estate activity. We are to be congratulated!

It was in September 2014 that KW Portugal started an adventure that today involves more than 2,400 associates spread over 30 Market Centers from north to south of the country! Portugal is now Keller Williams' largest market outside the US and Canada, among 51 regions spread across 5 continents.

But if the numbers in Portugal are impressive, when we count more than 184 thousand professionals worldwide, on June 30, 2021 (171,000 in the United States / Canada and 14 thousand in the other regions), it is better to understand why Keller Williams to be the largest and most dynamic real estate franchise network in the world.

For me, 2021 is going well, and it's recommended.

All over the world, this year there was a recovery from the falls recorded in 2020, as a result of the pandemic. The results of my activity, from January to September, reflect this dynamic and go even a little further.

When there are more than 3 months to the end of the year, I closed 41 transactions, which represent real estate deals totaling 22.5 Million Euros . I ended the month of August occupying 1st place in the Accumulated Top Individual of 2021 and I'm on my way to completing an exceptional year, probably my best year ever, but in these troubled times there is little caution ;)

Dissecting the pros and cons:

During these first 8 months, not everything was easy and not everything was linear. If there is a change that the pandemic has brought to my mind, it is that the only certainty I have is that there is no certainty! Nowadays, more important than occasional success is the speed with which we are able to adapt to change and the importance of maintaining a range of solutions as diverse as possible.

The new post-Covid dynamics accentuated the urgency of responding to the new needs and the new profile of buyers, namely:

• The search for new places of residence, further away from city centers. Even at an international level, interest in the center of the capital has shifted to wider and more airy areas and to properties with interesting outdoor areas;
• The search for houses in the design or construction phase, benefiting from the floor plan prices and favoring new developments that have emerged during the last two years;
• The demand for land for housing construction and collective construction, despite the increased difficulties in licensing and the inflation that affects construction costs, in a growing trend since January and which has no end in sight;
• The renovation of the housing stock of second-hand properties remained on the rise, despite some decrease in activity due to restrictions imposed on Local Lease in the main cities and the decrease in tourist influx;
• The TX+Office typology became a priority.With the adhesion of many professionals and companies to telecommuting, this is a trend that is here to stay;
• Increased demand from foreigners who intend to reside in Portugal. It is expected that this trend will remain strong over the next few years, accelerated, among other reasons, by teleworking, by the globalization of the economy and by the country's high attractiveness in terms of safety and quality of life;
• The predictable end of Visa Gold in the current form in Lisbon and Porto, in December 2021, brought an acceleration of decisions and is contributing to an increase in demand, this time also on the outskirts of large cities;
• Interest rates on bank credit for house purchase remained at historically low levels, further putting pressure on the supply of new construction, which proved unable to meet demand;
• It accelerated the search for properties with larger or smaller types, depending on the different stages of life.This dynamic had a double impact, young people looking for larger houses, and middle-aged owners adapting to smaller typologies.

In short, new difficulties in parallel with new opportunities are always a positive sign of a healthy real estate dynamic and have helped to resume pre-pandemic activity.

Forecasts are made at the end

Yeah... this is always the hardest part. As foreseen at the beginning of the year, the aforementioned challenges forced a more agile and diversified response from the real estate market. Today, the buyer is more demanding and looks for houses with modern characteristics and different types, with houses at the top of their preferences.

This year, the costs of raw materials for building houses (glass, iron, wood, aluminum and others) have increased between 30% ~ 50%. In addition, the increase in the energy bill and the lack of specialized labor - and not only - will continue to put upward pressure on the prices of new construction. In some cases, this problem is even causing construction stoppages to renegotiate specifications and prior awards. In other words, the value of new houses, which in some situations came to compete with the value of used or renovated houses, tends to diverge and become more inaccessible to the middle class. This will also turn away some international investors interested in quick capital gains.

On the other hand, there remains a great unknown with regard to the evolution of the pandemic and the measures that may have to be taken in response, during the cold season in Europe.More confinement and border restrictions will be a heavy blow to a market that will enter the first half of the year, which is normally the strongest half of mediation, fearful for the 3rd time.

The secret lies in greater diversification in the property portfolio : resale and new construction market , different types and types of properties , investment in leasing - which continues to be in strong demand - to take advantage of some of the recovery that has taken place in recent months in relation to to the commercial real estate market , it bets on new areas on the outskirts of cities , where there has been a clear increase in demand, etc.

If you're not afraid to face a challenge that could change your life, find out more about the career change that changed my life and those of more than 184,000 colleagues around the world! See my page: https://ana-macao-kw.pt/en/working-at-kw-keller-williams