We started the year with good news. The 28% growth on foreign buyers during 2018, was shaking, in a positive way, the markets and making us believe that 2019 was going to be a great year!
By the time we also told you that this increase was motivated by different factor such as:
- The Brexit.
- The Trump government and its potential new restrictions for foreign buyers seeking to access U.S. real estate.
- A continued forecast in many major markets for the potential of rising property prices.
- The growing interest of countries like Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece that would receive strong interest from foreign buyers due to its low cost properties.
- The Millennials, who are now in an age group that are purchasing their first properties or investment properties.
The year is almost over and we still have time to do a brief analysis of what was this year all about when it comes to international real estate.
Did our predictions became real?
1. Trade war and Brexit Impact
The trade war between the U.S and China, drove rich Chinese people to drop their plans to emigrate to the US and seek alternative destinations in Europe, particularly the UK. We know that the political situation in the UK is not brilliant, but in fact, Chinese seemed to be seduced by this country.
Esther Yong, director of Sodichan.com, a cross-border property dealing platform, said she has seen the same trend. “The queue in the US is getting longer, and emigration rules are getting tougher for other traditional popular destinations including Canada and Australia. So people are starting to look for other options,” she said.
On the other hand, as Brexit negotiations got messier, foreign investors increasingly started moving to other countries like France, especially in Paris where property prices experienced an increase, Spain or even the new Europe's darling... Portugal.
2. Portugal and Spain were the hottest property markets in Europe during 2019
During 2019, foreign investors have turned their attentions to Europe's new darling, Portugal and kept their interest for Spain.
The Portuguese and Spanish sun, culture, food and cost of life really played a big part on their success. However, it was the real estate prices that made the difference at the time of cashing in. In fact, real estate prices tend to be quite low when compared with other European cities like Paris, London, or Munich.
However, let's not forget that this growing interest in these countries led to an increase on property prices.
3. Technology was king
During 2019, real estate agents worldwide continued implementing new platforms to boost their results and international exposure.
The number of startups dedicated to real estate tech continued to increase and many real estate agents and agencies invested in mobile apps. We remind you that in the USA, one in five American adults only access the Internet via a smartphone, not a computer.
Having this trend in mind, real estate agents need to increase their exposure and sell themselves as a brand, therefore ListGlobally has launched a new dashboard fully equipped to help agents improve their results worldwide.
From 2020, ListGlobally is also launching a new product - Global Agent - that is mainly focused on real estate agents that want to improve their personal branding and improve their listings positioning on search result pages. Are you an agent? Do you want to know more about the Global Agent Program?
Start preparing your 2020 success
At ListGlobally we help real estate agents worldwide to connect with their foreign buyers. By providing international exposure to real estate agents, we help them to improve their sales results.
If you want our assistance to define your international marketing strategy, don’t hesitate to contact us. We will be glad to help you out.
