Real estate agencies sell in half the time

In Italy, real estate agencies complete the sale of a property in half the time it takes a private individual. Compared with a weighted national average of 6.4 months to complete a purchase or sale, the timeframe drops to 5.8 months when an agency handles it, compared with the 12.2 months needed between private individuals. Similarly, the negotiation margin (understood as the difference between the asking price on the ad and the transaction price), averaging 8.6 percent, drops to 8.4 percent in agency-managed purchases and sales, while it rises to 10.2 percent in negotiations between individuals.

These are some of the findings emerging from the report "The Role of Agencies and Individuals in Real Estate Buying and Selling - How Negotiation Times and Margins Are Changing," produced by the AgentPricing.com tool of Reopla, the company part of the Sprengnetter Group that specializes in Big Data Analysis and the creation of innovative software for the real estate sector.

"The report shows that in Italy only a small part of real estate purchases and sales are handled by individuals and that the vast majority of properties are entrusted to real estate agencies," explained Patrick Albertengo, co-founder and managing director of Reopla. Negotiations conducted by agencies are generally concluded faster and with a price closer to the starting price, because, unlike private individuals who tend to overprice properties, real estate agents have more experience in the field and technological tools that allow them to make more objective evaluations in line with the real market value of the property."