“Every day we have to see how we can come together and become strong as a sector, because we are strong individually, but not collectively, since everyone is working independently, and that's not enough to achieve goals that could be beneficial for the real estate community. As long as we think individually, we won't achieve anything collectively.” Welcome, Paulino.
SANTO DOMINGO.- Stabilizing real estate prices, professionalism, unity, seeking new markets, formalization, stabilizing construction material prices and interest rates, technological advancement, and continuing to work with a positive attitude are the main challenges for the Dominican real estate market in 2023, according to four of its main leaders.
“The professionalism that the sector demands every day to work with the efficiency that clients, sellers and buyers deserve, especially foreign investors, given the country's international standing,” explains lawyer Reyna Echenique of Echenique Group.
He identifies the formalization of real estate businesses as a challenge, highlighting that this situation is occurring in the 21st century and that "that is why they see us as mere commission agents and not as a profession like any other.".
Welcome Paulino, from Plusval Direct Sales, sees the first challenge of 2023 as overcoming the inflation that the country has experienced in the last year and that has generated increases in prices and interest rates.
As a second need, it suggests that the real estate market must become more technologically advanced because it will become increasingly important for the sector to use digital channels alternative to traditional ones in order to increase the possibility of attracting potential clients.
"This 2023, preceded by a year marked by the permanent rise in prices of construction materials and, consequently, the increase in the price of homes, the real estate market needs the stabilization of property prices, in order to keep the buying and selling dynamic active and avoid the slowdown of the market," says Edgar Martínez, CEO of Xtriba Inmobiliaria.
He understands that consequently, this stability will be a guarantee for the interests of investors in the sector, while advocating that the financial system readjust interest rates for mortgage loans, in order to encourage access to credit for the segment of clients who lost their ability to pay as a result of the increases.
Echenique, for his part, adds to his list the stabilization of construction material prices and the implementation of a new condominium law to include the issue of short-term rentals.
Furthermore, he adds the issue of long-term rentals to foreigners without Dominican residency, while Martínez also mentions that it is necessary to update the legal framework to offer guarantees to tenants and landlords.
“The biggest challenge is the training between the trust company, the construction company, the real estate agency, and the end client. It’s an issue that’s overwhelming us to the point that real estate agencies don’t want to work on projects with trust companies. They don’t pay,” explains the real estate law specialist and CEO of the Echenique group.
The veteran "father" of brokers, as Bienvenido Paulino is known, believes that in this new year of 2023 the real estate sector must seek new markets, considering that the wave of sales that has characterized the last three years will stabilize and "we are going to have pre-pandemic sales, not post-pandemic, so that is a challenge for companies to be able to maintain the pace of sales they had," he explains.
He adds another challenge: “Every day we have to see how we can come together and be strong as a sector, because we are strong individually, but not together because everyone is on their own and that is not possible to achieve objectives that can be interesting for the real estate community, as long as we think individually we are not going to achieve anything collective,” Paulino believes.
Attitude
For Alenny Garabito, CEO of Time Homes, the challenge is unique. He understands that people must do their part so that things can happen together. The mind is powerful, he asserts, “and if we keep saying it will go well, it will.”.
He believes that, as always, some people won't be able to buy, but others will emerge with new business and financial opportunities. "Some people will buy something smaller, others will move; people don't like losing their homes. People know exactly what they want; they know the time is now, and the pandemic taught us that when you have something in mind, you have to do it," he reflects
He points out that from 2020 to the present, the real estate market has grown because many buyers decided to live in houses they purchased, not rented; they opted for a more comfortable life, to invest, to know that money in concrete blocks and rebar is worth more than any certificate, no matter how much money or percentage they are offering at the moment,” he emphasizes.
The experienced real estate advisor, with more than 20 years in the business, confirms that real estate is the best and safest investment, and that is why "we are seeing that people are buying in every sector.".
Garabito points out that “the year has started well, it ended well last year, there were many sales in December and it's only January 4th and one thing I see is that in real estate chats people are starting to ask, that means the market is moving, we have already closed deals in our offices with different audiences, that means the business is going well, what we have to do is all get on the same page, know that it's going to be good,” he says optimistically.
In his opinion, despite predictions that the economy will not be good in 2023, the real estate market remains active because people are not afraid to invest and find ways to turn the situation around when investing in property.
The leader of Time Homes highlights the contributions of the Dominican diaspora who support the country through their remittances, and that what should be done is to continue projecting the real estate market as a sector that allows acquiring a property in an easy, reliable, and safe way.
“So we can’t think that what’s coming this year can be bad because if everything continues as it is feeling, this will be a glorious year,” he declared.
