Proptech startup Beagel.io has published its study on the impacts of Covid-19 on Ireland’s property sector.
The Irish based property technology company is headed up by industry veteran Healy Hynes and provides transparent online sales technology for estate agents.
According to Mr. Hynes the paper is based on research derived from over €1bn in private treaty bids placed on their systems since January 2019.
“The Beagel Covid-19 Impact report examines the on the ground changes in property sales.” Mr Hynes stated.
The study first examined the number of bids made per property sold. According to the study there were on average 6.6 bids per property in January 2019. This went up in February to 9.1 bids per property; an increase of 37.8%. The number of bids went up again in March 2019 to 10.2 bids per property; an increase of 12.1% and then dropped back down to 6.6 bids per property in April 2019.
For January 2020 there were on average 9.9 bids per property. This dropped by 31% in February 2020 to 6.9 bids per property to then climb back up by 91% in March 2020 to 9.1 bids per property. The figure then dropped by 86% in April 2020 to 1.3 bids per property.
The study then looked at the average sales prices relative to those being asked by vendors. In January 2019 the average property sold for 2.9% over the asking price. This figure jumped by 41.4% to 4.1% over asking price in February 2019 and increased again in March 2019 by 31.7% to 5.4% over the asking price. In April 2019 the average went down to 3.6% over the asking. A drop of 33%.
In January 2020 the average over asking was 3.6%. This spread widened by 47.2% in February 2020 to 5.3% over the asking price. The trend however reversed in March 2020 when the average over asking price dropped by 26.3% to 3.9% premium. The downward trend continued into April 2020 when the average property sold for 3.4% under the asking price.
The study then went on to look at the time property had been on the market by the time it sold. The average in January 2019 was 49.9 days. This dropped by 11.4% to 44.2 days in February and dropped again by 29.5% to 31.2 dates in March 2019. There was a slight increase in time on market to 34.6 days in April 2019.
For January 2020, the average property sold after 68.9 days on the market. This more than halved in 32.7 days in February 2020 to then increase by 2.1% in March 2020 to 33.4 days. The average more than doubled however in April 2020 to 76 days.
“Comparing the year to year figures we can see that there was almost a 50% increase in bids per property between January 2019 January 2020.” said Mr Hynes.
“These ratios then flipped in February when the bids in 2019 were exceeded the bids in 2020. The averages for March were practically identical with less than 1 bid in the difference. The downward trend however crystallised in April with a 92% difference between the months.”
In respect to the final sale prices, the report shows the gap between expected sale price and final sale price widened in January 2020 to January 2019 by 64%. That spread then more than halved in February and reversed in March although sales prices continued to exceed the asking. The trend then continued into April when sales prices for the first time dropped below the asking.
In regards to the trends of sale durations, January 2020 took 38% longer than January 2019, however this trend then inverted in February with sales taking less time than the previous year. Durations winded slightly in March with sales in March 2020 taking 2.2 days longer than the same period in the previous year.
April 2020 then clearly demonstrated a significant shift with the average sale duration now more than double the previous year.
The Beagel.io Covid-19 Impact Report can be downloaded for free at https://www.beagel.io/covid19/
About Beagel: Beagel (beagel.io) is a provider of online sales solutions for real estate professionals. A specialist company, Beagel is not an estate agents. It’s technology connect property buyers, sellers and estate agents in real time; enabling fast, transparent, trustable sales transactions.
Contact: Healy Hynes | healy.hynes@beagel.io | +353 87 263 2295