Vodcast: Coronavirus and the Italian Market

Italy was one of the first countries to experience lockdown and among the countries hardest-hit by the coronavirus. In this sense, its property market can perhaps be seen as an interesting case study relevant to those countries a little further behind on the pandemic curve.

In the latest of our vodcast series, Simon Baker interviews Luca Rossetto, CEO of Italian property portal Casa.it, to see how the property industry there reacted to the lockdown and what his portal is doing for its agent customers.

Commenting on the state of the Italian market in general, Rossetto says that:

• It’s perhaps too early to tell the true impact on agents. None really going out of business yet.

• There are a lot of agents trying to improve their skillsets and get familiar with technology. Pay-off for these agents learning new digital skills may be less than in other markets as Italian consumers are usually less tech-savy than those of other markets.

• The market is in for a YoY drop of 20% in transaction volumes

As for what Casa.it has been doing to adapt to the new reality, Rossetto was candid in divulging company strategy:

• Interestingly Casa.it has not chosen a one-size-fits-all approach to financially aid their agent customers. All have different needs, and the account managers have been treating each agent individually.

• Traffic and leads are down by 25% on year to date.

• Rossetto feels that the closeness of the agent-customer relationship can still be maintained on a virtual viewing which is a service they offer customers for free.

• Thinks remote work is the future for the Casa.it team.