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“Properties will not be available for US$100,000,” said the director of Zonaprop - La Nacion Propiedades
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“No se conseguirán propiedades por US$100.000″, dijo el director de Zonaprop
Leandro Molina, country manager de Quinto Andar, reveló cómo se comportó la demanda de propiedades en lo que va del año; qué sucedió con los valores de venta y cómo evolucionó el segmento de alquileres
www.lanacion.com.ar
July 04, 2024
Leandro Molina, country manager of Quinto Andar, revealed how the demand for properties has behaved so far this year; what happened with sales values and how the rental segment evolved
Victoria Aranda
Carla Quiroga (LA NACION) with Leandro Molina, country manager of Quinto Andar, owner of ZonaPropFabian Malavolta
In a key of strict current affairs. This is how the ninth edition of the Real Estate Summit organized by lnpropiedades began. The event, which sets the agenda for what is coming in the real estate market, started with a one-on-one between Carla Quiroga, deputy secretary of LA NACION, and Leandro Molina, director of Quinto Andar, the group that owns Zonaprop .
The executive exclusively gave the Index an update on the balance sheet for the first six months of the year. “There is a stabilization of sales prices after the post-pandemic revaluation ,” Molina replied, when asked about the behavior of this variable and after a 2023 in which a change of cycle was anticipated.
“The gap in the negotiation between supply and demand is lower,” he concluded, giving numbers: the average discount made continues to decline in June and stands at 6.6%. Meanwhile, the volume of apartments for sale repriced downwards in the last six months stopped falling and remains stable, around 17% and 18%, according to the CABA market report for June. “Both the drop in the volume of repriced ads and the drop in the average discount, among other things, explain the change in the price trend recorded from July 2023,” he emphasized.
On the other hand, the index reflected that in October 2023, market prices hit a floor and then began a progressive rise, and at the same time, there was an increase in the cost of construction and, consequently, the number of well-off projects. “In this sense, according to the reports we developed, the cost of construction measured in dollars registered an increase of 15.8% in 2024 while the average price of apartments rose by 4.3% . Today, a well-off apartment is at US$2,649/m2. Building today costs 2.5 times more than it cost in October 2020, the minimum in the series and 11.6% above the 2012-2023 average,” he explained.
Following these changes in the market, some clients agree that just as 2023 was a year of transition, where prices stopped falling, 2024 is a period in which prices begin to rise, especially for properties priced at less than US$100,000 . In the case of properties with higher ticket prices, the increase in prices could move more slowly.
Leandro Molina, from ZonaPropFabian Malavolta
Molina -who has a general idea of the market based on the X-ray that the platform gathers- pointed out that the great determining guideline for the market's behavior is the expectation of mortgage credit. As he explained, always backed up by figures, in the face of the simple prospect of the return of the financial tool, the number of inquiries increased by 100% compared to the previous year.
“A slight increase in the number of interested parties in this segment began to be seen in March, and in April and May the number shot up. From April to May the increase was 20%,” he explained, adding that “the 141 mortgage deeds registered in May must be compared with the 600 in 2018,” he specified, adding that the market potential must be projected on this basis.
Prices, areas and typologies
“Can we say that there will no longer be tickets for less than US$100,000 in Buenos Aires?” the journalist asked. “These are the properties that present the greatest demand pressure,” Molina answered, indicating that the pressure decreases as the ticket price increases. “At US$350,000, the pressure drops,” she said.Regarding the most popular areas, Molina acknowledged that the most sought-after neighborhoods that have been on the podium for years are Palermo, Belgrano, Recoleta and Caballito . “Then we see some neighborhoods that are moving up behind those, such as Villa Urquiza, Almagro and Villa Crespo, which are neighborhoods that, comparing year to year, have had increases in demand above 100%. While Caballito appears as a “consolidated aspirational,” the DoHo – Donado Homberg corridor – is reflected as “an emblem of what is consolidated,” he said.
The invaluable data provided by Zonaprop also reveal information on the most popular types of apartments, and establish the two-room apartment as the star of the market . The country manager placed the three-room apartment in second place. Meanwhile, interest in studio apartments is declining, as they were in high demand, although today, the executive acknowledged, they have lost ground.
The link between the increase in construction costs and their impact on values was also a topic of inquiry. “Obviously, it ends up impacting prices, especially due to replacement costs,” confirmed the interviewee, who nevertheless described other behaviors that the company registered: supply grew by 5% this year and interest by 70%.
Rentals
If there was another segment with news so far in 2024, that segment was rentals. And Zonaprop also has data on the supply and demand of properties for that purpose. Compared to last year, Molina stated that the growth in supply was 77% while demand grew by 35% . These data were the basis of Molina's analysis: "There is more supply than demand, so prices are slowing down."Other data shared by the executive is that a property for rent in CABA lasts, on average, 23 days published. In GBA North, the average is 26 days, while in GBA West and GBA South, the average is 22 days, respectively. “Although sometimes the ads are canceled for reasons other than the signing of a rental contract, it is a very different number from a year ago where the properties offered were often rented on the same day ,” he explained.
As for the areas that attract the greatest interest from tenants (50%), the executive mentioned the northern corridor again – “Belgrano, Palermo, Recoleta” -, plus some of the Microcentro and Puerto Madero. “The expectations, in general, both in rentals and sales are 100% positive,” concluded Molina, who expressed himself in a similar way about profitability.
To see the full event click here
When the question that closed the talk was about Zonaprop in general and technology in particular, Molina concluded: “ We try to facilitate traffic and make it agile, with management tools, for example, with the Tokko Broker software, in order to facilitate decision-making . ”
Regarding investments in technology, the executive acknowledged that the company is constantly investing in improvements to increase the efficiency of the site for both real estate clients and end users. “Whether with artificial intelligence, which allows us to streamline and automate processes, get to know our audience, understand what type of property they are looking for, as well as tools such as our Chatbot, which is a product of WhatsApp retargeting campaigns,” he said.
In turn, he acknowledged that his CRM, Tokko Broker, has constant updates such as the recently launched chat between colleagues, so that they can speak directly through the platform, check their stock, offer properties and in this case coordinate visits between them. Looking to the future, he announced that they are going to integrate WhatsApp and Instagram functionalities into the platform so that the actions carried out by real estate agencies from Tokko Broker through these tools are recorded in the system and channeled as a means of consultation.
Finally, he announced that he will soon launch a variety of new premium web templates so that users can access an improvement of their real estate website.
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