The words are from Pedro Seabra, Partner Real Estate at Explorer Investments, who was talking with Vida Imobiliária in the new section “Especial Covid-19 – Conversas Diárias” (Special Covid-19 – Daily Talks), stating that «we haven’t yet felt the impact, but it will be significant. It will be felt straight away in the construction works and the time it takes to approve projects».
In a more immediate scenario, he admits that «the number of transactions will be much smaller» and that transactions «will even stop for some time. Many people will delay decisions, and will not be able to travel to see the buildings, which cannot be bought without being seen».
«But we expect for the impact to be temporary», he stated, since «there is still a lot of willingness and a lot of money to invest in real estate and the demand’s pressure over offer remains. Of course, a lot can change in two or three months, and nobody knows what will happen for sure».
Pedro Seabra believes that «pressure on the real estate market will return when people are able to move with confidence. Real estate will continue to be a refuge when compared to other financial products and not necessarily because of this crisis».
Explorer Investments holds several types of assets and admits analysing several scenarios for the coming months, especially concerning hotels and retail, which should be the most affected segments. For now, «we haven’t prepared any measure to support our tenants. It is hard to talk about something that has just begun».
«We will need to know how long this will last so that we understand how we will recover. We expect for this situation to end soon. We have to keep working so that it will end even sooner. We must have very good sense about the measures we will take», appealed Pedro Seabra.
