Renter's Market created by Covid-19

By Richard Greenbury
27 Apr 2020

English
Italiano

2020, the year Covid-19 arrived and virtually closed down the global economy. The whole world in lock-down. A once in a lifetime event that as of the 27^th of April has claimed over 200,000 lives globally (over 26,000 in Italy) and even after the restrictions are gradually lifted it is estimated months or even years for the global economy to return to ‘normal’ and for people to be financially able, have vacation time or have the confidence to travel as per pre ‘Covid-19’.

Will flights be as regular as before?

and

how much will flight prices increase due to the enforcing of the probable new ‘social distancing’ laws?

Nearly every sector has been affected and brought to a halt not only including tourism. For the ‘Eternal City’ of Rome that heavily relies on a steady flow of tourists, this has created havoc for restaurants, tour agencies, and vacation rentals. According to http://insideairbnb.com/ the central part of Rome alone had 15,000 vacation rentals and 29,000 in total for the greater Rome region. All these houses now are empty with a very bleak future for 2020. Realistically, some say the vacation rental market is dead until at least April 2021, and even then it’s most unlikely to return to previous numbers immediately.

Besides giving mother nature a break, Covid-19 has also created a renter’s market and a great opportunity for those seeking a new place. According to www.cribmed.com, prices on their medium-term property rental online platform have been reduced anywhere up to 50% by the Landlords, with new properties being listed every day.

Landlord’s now face the decision of having empty properties and holding out for a better price ‘in the future’ or accepting that something is better than nothing. One property manager, Giuseppe calculated that if he waited, empty-handed,

for his desired monthly price of €1600 with only sporadic monthly rentals here and there,

accept a steady monthly rate of €1000 that over the course of the next 12 months he would be financially better off with the steady monthly of rate of €1000, and less stress.

Maybe just what the world needed, level the markets, level our heads. Let’s see what the new world will bring!

rome, renting, coronavirus

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Richard

Richard is the founder of Cribmed. He was born and grew up in New Zealand. In his twenties, he traveled and backpacked extensively before finally settling down in Rome, Italy in 2011.