Property Market Tracker update – last week shows incredible surge in consumer online activity!
Live Chat engagement increases significantly across all consumer groups - vendors, buyers, landlords and tenants.
Following our initial report on consumer engagement via Live Chat, the latest update (to Sunday night 19 April) shows all groups now rising steadily, and some almost back to pre-COVID average levels.
Our 12 month analysis last week put the Coronavirus crisis into perspective for the property industry, using consumer engagement via Live Chat as an indicator of market sentiment, and comparing it directly with 2019 and the first 10 weeks of 2020.
Everyone is familiar with the dampening effect that Brexit uncertainty had on the property market, which in Live Chat terms bottomed out immediately prior to the UK general election, when the country felt paralysed and unsure of what might happen next. As can be seen on the graph below, looked at purely through the eyes of the consumer, the Coronavirus crisis has not stalled behaviour any further than that 2019 low point.
Now no-one can diminish the unprecedented complications of home-working, furloughed staff, cashflow and thwarted business processes, but there is a clear implication here that business is there to be had, if only we can find ways to manage and deliver it.
Our analysis is produced from all 24/7 Live Chat data across 3,800 estate agents in the UK, since January 2019 (around one million chats per year). The graph shows a base line average established from the 62 weeks prior to COVID-19 restrictions, and so includes the period of Brexit uncertainty, pre-election paralysis and the so-called Boris bounce. Thus the variation around this very usefully shows the December low, the January/February high and the subsequent Coronavirus dive.
Engagement level focuses on lead generation, and so give a very strong indicator of positive consumer sentiment, and desire to do business with Estate Agents and property businesses.
YOMDEL PROPERTY SENTIMENT TRACKER (w/e 19th April 2020):
Vendor or seller hit their low 2 weeks ago at just 35% of the average levels, only 10% lower than December 2019, immediately prior to the election. But most remarkably in the last 2 weeks we have seen a consistent bounce-back, initially to 49% and this last week returning to 64%. Whilst this is still 35% below our 14 month average, it shows a remarkable consumer attitude to try and get on with selling their homes, despite the obvious challenges.
Buyer enquiries dropped the least to a low of only 68% 3 weeks ago. That's almost 10% better than last December, so perhaps buyers are the least put off. And they've recovered quickly, back to a remarkable 90% of average engagement level, with a rise of 24% in the last week alone. We consistently see buyers requesting video or virtual viewings, and they are demanding agents help, which should be great news.
After the initial dip 3 weeks ago, landlord engagement levels rose and fell for several weeks, but now appear to be on the rise again, recovering to a remarkable 81% of average in the last week. Despite facing significant tenant payment issues and property maintenance challenges, we are seeing healthy numbers of landlords looking to get property on the market.
Finally tenants remain the biggest story of the crisis. Tenant engagement levels, actively seeking accommodation, are at 134% of pre-COVID average levels, their highest level since September last year. Live Chat is revealing high numbers of tenants on the move, no doubt for financial reasons as well as practical or contractual ones, and they need to be assisted effectively to ensure that cash flows through the system and agent businesses remain buoyant.
Chatting to Andy Soloman about these figures he remarked: “The message is unequivocal, now is not the time to keep your head down and wait for the crisis to pass. Customers are there and the best estate agents will be looking for ways to help people, build trust and relationships so that as restrictions ease they’ll be in prime position”.
It is becoming clear to us, and most of the people that we speak with, that the Coronavirus crisis is emerging as a huge opportunity for the property sector to reinvent its working processes, borne out of delivering services in a compromised scenario, that will never return to exactly how they were before.
Those who do this fastest, to the highest level of quality and effectiveness, will emerge as the strongest competitors in the future market. As the numbers above show us, consumers are adapting very fast, and after only a brief pause are looking for agents to service them in whatever way is possible.
If you'd like to know more about these figures, discuss what is happening in your market, or just chat about how we can help you adapt your business to the new future ahead of us all, I can be reached at simon.taylor@yomdel.com and I'm always happy to chat.
You can see what Yomdel is doing to help here.
