Compass Property Sales - End of year review for 2020

Towards the end of every year in what appears now to be a ritual, we hear the same comments repeating themselves …. “I hope next years an improvement on this one” and “Surely next year can´t be as bad as this”. Most years I offer a smile and put it down to good old-fashioned Victor Meldrew Syndrome, but even I must confess this year I am in full agreement. Even the democratic embarrassment that is the 2019 US Presidential race could not detract from the fallout caused by the outbreak of Covid19. However wrongly or rightly we believe the Covid19 crisis has been handled, the effects of the disease have been hugely damaging around the world. Over 71 million confirmed cases worldwide, untold more unconfirmed, 1.6 million dead, rapid unemployment growth and massive fiscal interventions from governments that has created eye watering debt. For the majority of us fortunate enough to be living on the Algarve, we have been somewhat shielded from the worst of the virus infecting Portugal with Lisbon and Porto having been hit the hardest. Sensible social distancing implemented early and adhered to combined with huge areas of low-density living has been hugely beneficial in avoiding the physical fallout of the disease but what about the economic fallout – in particular, property? As non-Portuguese buyers make up such a large proportion of Algarve property purchasers, the travel restrictions we witnessed during the year tied with lockdowns meant fewer visitors to the Algarve. Unsurprisingly therefore the quantity of sales transactions happening in 2020 was lower than in previous years. However, what has been noticeable throughout the year is the fact that property prices, across the price spectrum, have been holding firm. It has been a popular assumption since the pandemic started that the discovery of a vaccine would bring the crisis to a swift conclusion and allow our lives to start to return to some degree of normality. With this hope and optimism, property vendors in the Algarve as well as around the globe, have resisted the temptation to panic and now with multiple pharmaceutical companies offering vaccines for Covid19 and mass immunisation being a real possibility by early 2021, there appears to be validity in this reasoning. It is also becoming evident within the Algarve real estate market that 2021 could be a particularly good year in terms of property sales. The frustration and claustrophobia caused during 2020 is already encouraging high numbers of buyers to start enquiring about property for sale in preparation for visiting the Algarve in the New Year and we at Compass Property Sales are determined to meet this demand. To that end we are committed to increasing our property portfolio of quality and direct listings in both the East Algarve and the Central Algarve. We recognize that many vendors of properties have differing requirements in terms of approach, marketing, viewings, etc and as such we are happy to discuss the tailoring of our services to meet individual requirements. At Compass Property Sales we offer a free, no obligation property assessment and consultation to all owners so please do not hesitate to contact us if you are considering selling your property. 

Finally and particularly for this year, the whole team at Compass Property Sales would like to wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas and a very healthy, happy and prosperous New Year.

Paul Greenhalgh