Following the Circuit Breaker Period (BCP) implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Singaporeans have been strongly urged to remain in our homes to curb further outbreaks. Since then, real estate agents have been experiencing a sharp decline in inquiry calls and requests for property viewing, whether for purchase or rent.
According to analysts, there will be disruptions in both residential and commercial transactions as most property buyers and sellers would adopt a “wait-and-see” approach during this critical period. In addition, there will be a need for property investors and owners who are over-leveraged or need a cash injection to quickly sell their properties causing an oversupply.
To provide you the support you need to tide through these challenging times, we have so far launched 2 rounds of relief initiatives to our agent community.
- COVID-19 Relief Initiative for Agents – launched 18 March 2020, valid till 30 June 2020
- COVID-19 Relief Initiative: Circuit Breaker Edition – launched 13 April 2020, valid till 11 May 2020
While you #StayHome and practice social distancing, agent partners must use this time wisely to research market insights to plan for marketing activities that cater to the long-term consumer behavior changes.
A Different View
Amidst the slowdown, data extracted from PropertyGuru.com.sg paints a different picture!
Based on web traffic report from the recent 3 months, property seekers are still actively engaging on our portal with average first-time page visits of 3.4 million users per month from Jan-Mar 2020.
Below chart shows comparison of New Visitors (69.8%) and Returning Visitors (30.2%) to PropertyGuru.com.sg from the same period. As we continue to help property seekers find and own their dream home through our platform, we attract more new visitors to our website which translates to you getting more leads as our agent partners.
Despite an anticipated decrease of user activity due to the Circuit Breaker, PropertyGuru.com.sg’s web traffic sessions remain stable in the month of March with no significant drop in terms of number of total impressions on property listings. Through the Listing Performance Insights (LPI) feature on AgentNet, we’re able to monitor changes in total number of impressions for residential and commercial listings.
Findings below suggest that property seekers are still keen and are searching for properties while staying at home.
In fact, the number of impressions has steadily increased over the months from January to March 2020.
Long-term Consumer Behavior Trends
It’s important to understand that this pandemic will leave behind long-lasting consumer behavior changes that impact the real estate ecosystem and our traditional practices even after recovery. Mike Delprete wrote that social distancing will accelerate the adoption of digital services that facilitate real estate transactions.
Once more consumers experience the benefits of buying or selling a home through a digital marketplace, PropTech portals will become the new go-to channel within the real estate industry. With that, we expect to see increased adoption as we continue to introduce new features to enhance user experience on our platforms.
Find out 3 Ways to Stockpile Your Prospects here.
Know What People Are Looking At
HDB Apartments or private properties?
According to the searches made by property seekers over the past 3 months, we’ve seen a relatively even split between the 2 segments:
And here’s a more detailed look into the searches made by districts. It would seem that District 19 (Hougang/Punggol/Sengkang) is the clear winner with more than twice the viewership volume versus other districts in Singapore.
With the usual popular residential areas like District 10 (Tanglin/Holland/Bukit Timah), District 15 (East Coast/Marine Parade), District 18 (Pasir Ris/Tampines) and District 23 (Dairy Farm/Bukit Panjang/Choa Chu Kang) still gaining reasonably high views as well.
That wraps up our article for this week and we hope you found it insightful.
We can’t wait to publish next week’s piece. Stay tuned!
#GuruCares #SGunited #PGStandByYou
Check out your COVID-19 Resource Guide to see the relief measures, latest webinars and articles available to you!
Sign up for your free webinar sessions available on PropertyGuru Academy!
Other articles on COVID-19 Relief Initiative for Agents:
- Standing By You Through COVID-19 (Relief measures launched on: 18 March 2020)
- Supporting You Further With COVID-19 Relief Initiative: Circuit Breaker Edition (Relief measures launched on: 13 April 2020)
- Enhanced COVID-19 Relief Initiative For Agent Partners (Relief measures launched on: 30 April 2020)
- How To Use Your Ad Credits Smartly
Get insights from our consumer data on how to optimise your Ad Credit spend
- Stockpile Your Prospects By Using These 3 PropertyGuru Features
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