The real estate market is constantly changing, with increasingly demanding clients and an increasingly limited supply. New technologies have become indispensable tools for companies to use them to grow in this market, which, according to Duarte Ferreira dos Santos, vice president of investment in Lisbon at Casavo, “still remains very fragmented, complex and autonomous” .

In an interview with Executive Digest, Duarte Ferreira dos Santos believes that despite the momentum that the pandemic has given to the digitization of the real estate sector, the real estate industry is still characterized by traditional, autonomous and very dependent on bureaucratic and physical processes. In his opinion, the technological solutions that have emerged in recent years allow streamlining processes, making the real estate market faster, simpler and more uncomplicated, and improving the experience of all stakeholders, whether they are buyers, sellers, landlords, tenants or even real estate agents.

Portuguese real estate market.

“The Portuguese housing market, especially in the Lisbon metropolitan area, has an interesting transactional dimension as a result of the cultural preference to buy a house rather than rent it. In addition, the housing stock in the capital is very old and obsolete, the vast majority of houses were built before the 1980s,” he explains.

To respond to an aging supply, by renovating the houses that Casavo buys, they contribute to refurbishing old buildings in the city and making them more energy efficient.

“The Portuguese real estate market, like other markets in Southern Europe, continues to be very fragmented, complex and autonomous, despite the fact that the pandemic has accelerated the change in customer behavior towards the adoption of a digital channel.” Duarte Ferreira dos Santos believes that much remains to be done in this aspect, namely in the introduction of digital tools to make the market more transparent and improve interaction with buyers and sellers.

400 million euros for business scaling

Casavo recently raised a new €400 million investment round, which includes a €100 million Series D round and a €300 million credit line.

“The total amount raised by Casavo will be used to scale the business and strengthen its leadership in Europe. This combination of equity and debt is a recognition of our strong growth and investor confidence in our long-term vision. This round will allow us to strengthen our leadership in Europe by growing in markets we already operate in, namely Portugal, Spain and Italy, as well as expanding into new markets where France is a priority.”

A tool that allows you to instantly evaluate real estate

In this context, the VP of Investment explains that Casavo provides a tool that allows sellers to instantly value their property. “Casavo can submit an offer in 48 hours and complete a purchase in a matter of days in a single visit… Through the use of a proprietary algorithm, Casavo ensures that the submitted offer is fair and based on objective criteria.”

On the other hand, for those who want to buy a house, Casavo presents a portfolio of ready-to-live-in properties with high energy efficiency and modern and attractive design, which can be found on the platform and viewed remotely using immersive technology. .

The future of the real estate market in Portugal

Looking to the future, Duarte Ferreira dos Santos believes that “due to the lack of supply of new construction and the high demand caused by the needs of families after the pandemic, we do not expect the market for refurbished homes to be significantly affected by the situation we are facing, especially in homes , prices for which correspond to the income of the Portuguese.

However, he sees a slowdown that could be due not only to the rise in the cost of living for families associated with the current geopolitical context, but also to the increase in Euribor rates and the new rules that the Bank of Portugal has applied to housing. loans, which can contribute to an increase in the burden of households.

“In our view, it will be increasingly important to refurbish used homes that are outdated and dated to meet the needs of families,” he concludes.