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Residence: Some time ago, you tried to categorize the consequences of corona. Are your conclusions still valid after the second lockdown? What do you see differently today, or at best more differentiated?<\/strong><\/p>\n Claude Ginesta:<\/strong> During the first lockdown, there was a great deal of uncertainty, the stock markets corrected sharply and long-term interest rates suddenly rose. In the meantime, however, it has become clear that real estate markets and stock markets are benefiting more from coronavirus, which is why trading has picked up sharply. This led to rising prices for real estate, which is now also reflected in the transaction data evaluations.<\/p>\n More space, more greenery, location less important: housing needs are changing. What does this mean for supply and demand?<\/strong><\/p>\n People reorganized their space requirements and vacation habits relatively quickly. We see this in an increased demand for larger apartments and especially for vacation properties. And I don’t think that location has become less important, nor have I noticed a trend away from the city and into the countryside. This is because there is still strong demand for city apartments. If you need more space, you simply have to move to cheaper locations in the suburbs or the countryside, as prices have risen by at least 5 to 10% everywhere. So it is usually only the price issue that forces people to travel further distances.<\/p>\n Single-family homes in particular are becoming more popular again, and prices are rising here. What do you expect for this segment in the coming months and years?<\/strong><\/p>\n Single-family homes are becoming an increasingly rare commodity. We have been saying this for ten years and there will be even fewer single-family homes in the future. Accordingly, prices behave as they do in any market with shortages: they rise.<\/p>\n Senior citizens are staying in their own homes for longer, and many do not want to move into a home. Their houses do not come onto the market, or only later. Will supply remain tight? <\/strong><\/p>\n I can well imagine that older people in the current situation have no interest in moving into a retirement home. Rather, they will try to stay in their homes by all means, such as private Spitex services and additional help in the household. However, we have no reliable data on this. For some years now, it has been clear that people are entering retirement homes at an increasingly older age and that almost only those in need of care are going into retirement homes. The stay is then shorter. I suspect that the coronavirus will exacerbate this trend, which will also be felt by care homes. This results in a short-term shortage. <\/p>\n Your work as a broker has changed during the pandemic. What has changed?<\/strong><\/p>\n We have taken advantage of the opportunities offered by digitalization and conducted more virtual tours. However, we also see that technology has its limits – the smell is missing, the sounds, the gut feeling – and viewing a property on site is still desired. We are registering fewer viewings, but these are with more specific interests.<\/p>\n They offer so-called home hunting, the search for special properties, not only for customers from abroad. How long does it take to find your dream home?<\/strong><\/p>\n As a real estate expert myself, I searched for four years until I found my dream home on the Gold Coast. We often accompany customers who have been searching for a long time and this is unlikely to change in the future due to the shortage of supply. There are always three possible compromises you should be prepared to make: price, location or property type.<\/p>\n Online viewings have become an alternative to face-to-face viewings, especially for offers aimed at a small, widely dispersed audience. What prospects does technology offer?<\/strong><\/p>\n The technology can be used to distinguish between interested and very interested prospective buyers. This saves us many physical visits, which would most likely be in vain. Due to the very high demand, we continue to carry out an average of 20 to 25 viewings per property. So a lot of time is still spent with interested parties who then don’t buy. Technology can relieve us of a certain amount of pre-selection here; without it, there would probably be even more at the moment.<\/p>\n Real estate brokerage has been shifting to digital for some time now. Has this trend become more pronounced recently? Where do you see the opportunities and where are the limits?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think this trend has been going on for much longer. In the next step, we will see solutions with artificial intelligence, which we hope will enable the systems to learn better in future and recognize what customers are looking for. This will mean an innovative quantum leap both in the marketplaces and in the broker tools and will lead to greater efficiency for everyone involved.<\/p>\n One of your regional business areas is the vacation corner of Switzerland, Graub\u00fcnden: How is the market developing in the Engadin and the rest of the canton?<\/strong><\/p>\n We are particularly pleased with our branch in St. Moritz, which had a very high footfall this winter. Many properties were requested and sold. The Engadin vacation region therefore benefited from the coronavirus situation. However, we also experienced high demand in the rest of the canton, particularly in the Laax\/Flims, Arosa\/Lenzerheide and Davos\/Klosters regions, and were able to support a correspondingly large number of sales.<\/p>\n They are also active abroad through a cooperation with the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World. Who is buying anything in Italy or Mallorca at the moment?<\/strong><\/p>\n The markets in Italy, particularly in northern Italy, remain intact. Buyers from Switzerland and Germany are interested. Mallorca, on the other hand, is experiencing problems due to flight restrictions. I assume that this market will only pick up again in the summer or fall of this year.<\/p>\n Prices for apartment buildings are rising, yields are falling. The need for private investors to invest in real estate continues. What do you need to look out for?<\/strong><\/p>\n It is true that yields have fallen again. However, the “spread”, the difference between a risk-free investment and the net yield on investment properties, is around 2%, as it was ten years ago. This means that a good, albeit low, investment return can still be justified. <\/p>\n