Morocco’s Real Estate Sector Faces Uncertainty Amid COVID-19 Crisis

As part of "Culture Immo", a podcast produced by the agency, the director recalls that the impact of the health crisis on the commercial real estate advisory sector has been "sudden and brutal"! According to the head of the real estate agency "Carré Immobilier", this situation can be justified by the fact that professionals have switched to teleworking overnight, out of caution, without being really ready. He also notes that the sector has not experienced a slowdown, but rather a complete halt in activity, an estimated drop of more than 80%, mainly due to confinement and the difficulties of meeting clients and visiting real estate sites and construction sites.

Returning to digital, William Simoncelli admits that it can play a cushioning role in the current context, but cannot solve everything. According to him, this crisis will have the effect of accelerating the digital transformation of companies, concretely and in the context we are living in.

As for his own activities, he maintains that to ensure continuity, together with his employees, they have set up digital tools such as videoconferencing or digital visits. Having proven effective at the beginning of the crisis, these tools do not seem to constitute a sustainable alternative, he points out, while noting that "these digital tools accompany the evolution of our profession, but do not replace its fundamentals".

Faced with the uncertainty of tomorrow, William Simoncelli considers it too early to establish a precise diagnosis of the impact of the crisis on the market. In the absence of transactions, it is very difficult to predict how prices will react, he specifies, estimating nevertheless that the drop in prices and the fact that real estate purchase is no longer considered a priority are two risks facing the sector following the health crisis. "There is a demand of about 2 million housing units in the kingdom, which is a good note of hope. However, to meet this demand, we really need to understand the need and get out of the paradigm of the mismatch between supply and demand," he says.