In times like these, we at MiMove are extra proud and glad to announce that we have broken new records! Like many other companies, we felt the suspense and concern about where the consequences of the unusual year of 2020 would take us. It was certainly a year of many unpredictable chain reactions on the economic market.
One thing that is certain is that last year’s events brought many new thoughts and reflections to all of us. Many people’s lives quickly changed for the worse while few others’ for the better.
An Unusual Year Brought New Records!
Maybe we pushed even harder than usual to avoid the downhill that many others experienced. Perhaps last year made people more keen to actually take the step and move to a warmer climate. The dream of finally moving to Spain possibly became even stronger after much thinking while sitting indoors long periods of time. It’s hard to say exactly why, but most likely it’s a combination of different ingredients that helped us manage to raise the numbers.
Number One on the International Market in Spain
We still stand as the leading property portal with listings in Spain that targets the international market. We got on average 320,000 visitors per month during corona and in January 2021 we are closing in on 400,000 visitors. Most visitors come from Sweden, followed by the British, Germans and Dutch among others.
We also broke a new record in the amount of inquiries. The number of inquires, phone calls, and emails sent to our clients was in January 2021 the highest in our company’s history.
Overall, we receive more and more questions, emails and we note a generally increased interest from both website visitors and potential partners. Our number of followers on social media has also increased by >30% during the past year. The engagement rate is also steadily going up with many comments and likes on our ads.
We Anticipate a ketchup effect on the Spanish housing market
Of course, nothing can be predicted with 100% certainty. But, given the increased interest, and also because everyone who had planned to buy a home in Spain in 2020 (but who put it on hold due to the crisis) will most likely be the first ones to buy as soon as we return to a more flexible life. During regular years, the purchases are naturally spread out throughout the year – some buy in the spring, others in the autumn and so on. What we anticipate will happen is that many buyers will at once want to grab hold of their long-awaited homes in Spain.
Are you considering investing in the Spanish estate market or moving to this lovely country? If your answer is ‘yes’, then the best time to buy would probably be as soon as possible – before the estate agency offices get crowded and the competition triggers the prices to rocket.
Remote Work is Increasing
Another factor impacting the property market, especially in Spain and Portugal, is the realisation that you can work from a sunny home in Spain but still have your job in your home-country. Keeping your salary from Stockholm/London/Amsterdam but living by a pool in south of Europe. Also, the cost of living is usually a bit cheaper than in the northern home country.
We at MiMove are getting more and more questions about this topic and we believe, especially over time, that this group of people will both grow in number and become a driving force in terms of property prices and purchases in Southern Europe.
Warning from MiMove
We quite often see comments, and we’ve also come across one or two journalistic articles, that seem to predict that there will be a price drop or that you soon can buy a house for a third of the current price. We at MiMove not only believe that this is completely wrong, we believe that it’s purely harmful to adopt and spread this kind of false information. It is true, however, that we have seen small downward adjustments in Spanish domestic property prices. Although, the international market has hardly moved at all. And even during the great crisis in 2008-2009, we never saw any price falls as such, so why would it happen now?
Instead, we are completely convinced that remote working and the great interest we mentioned above, together with the fact that people increasingly seek to live in the sun. All this time of limitations that we have lived with during the past year will lead to a Ketchup effect. The chances of estate prices going down in 2021 are quite narrow, on the contrary, it’s more likely that they will head upward.
GBP vs. EURO
Something to also keep in mind is that the British Pound is becoming stronger against the Euro. This fact means that you get more for your money in Spain. Below we can follow the growth of the British Pound against the Euro:
