Wowa Leads Inc. - Historical Drop in Home Sales Could Wipe Out 0.6% of Canada's GDP by 2021
TORONTO, May 6, 2020 /CNW/ - The COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the Canadian residential real estate market is unprecedented and could last until 2022. A 35% drop in residential real estate transactions due to COVID-19 could wipe out more than 0.6% of Canada's GDP by 2021. New safety protocols, high unemployment rates, and further waves of COVID-19 could prevent Canadian residential real estate from fully recovering by 2022, despite mortgage deferral initiatives by the CMHC and measures by the Bank of Canada. Real estate professionals will need to adapt to the crisis by using new technologies to move their services online. Wowa Leads Inc. ("WOWA") has developed solutions to tackle the crisis and support the Canadian real estate industry.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has hit all industries worldwide, so it's no surprise that the real estate market here in Toronto has also been greatly impacted. Within just a few short weeks, sales volumes plummeted by close to 70%, causing a major concern to those of us in the real estate industry. WOWA stepped up to the plate by providing useful and innovative tools for Realtors to use online to reach clients during this time," explains David Cinelli, Realtor with Royal LePage Signature and co-host of HGTV's Hot Market. "The major benefit to using WOWA tools is that we can continue working while following COVID-19 social distancing guidelines by not physically meeting in person. This has positively impacted how we run our businesses now and also in the future as we will continue to use these effective tools even when social distancing is no longer a concern."
Lockdowns due to COVID-19 have caused resale real estate transactions in April to drop by 67% month over month in the Greater Toronto Area despite lower mortgage rates, according to a recent report by the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB). Each lost sale removes more than $64,000 from the Canadian economy and threatens over 157,000 directly related jobs [Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) 2019]. WOWA has found that the disruption to residential resales could last well into 2021 and lead to a loss of over $11 billion from the Canadian economy. A continued decline of up to 1% of GDP can be avoided if the real estate industry is able to quickly move their services online.
"At WOWA, we are helping agents acquire clients and hold open houses online and handle the new challenges from this crisis through tools such as our Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy Calculator. We are also empowering home buyers and sellers to take charge of their financial planning while minimizing in-person contact." says WOWA CEO Dr. Hanif Bayat. "Our goal is to minimize the impact of COVID-19 on the real estate industry and maintain liquidity in the residential market. If we can bring more of the home buying and selling process online, we can manage this crisis and save thousands of jobs."
About Wowa Leads Inc.
Wowa Leads, Inc. (WOWA) is a Toronto-based Proptech company with over 20 different solutions for the real estate industry. Its main product, Wowa.ca, is a free online marketplace that enables buyers and sellers to select from top local real estate professionals based on their unique needs. WOWA also offers a suite of tools that empower Canadians in every step of their home buying or selling process. In response to COVID-19, WOWA recently released Virtual OpenHouse and tools to help real estate agents and Canadian small businesses navigate CEWS and CEBA programs.
Related Links:
Current Mortgage rates in Canada
Altus Group and the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) report in 2019
CMHC Mortgage Deferral Program
Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy Calculator by WOWA
SOURCE Wowa Leads Inc.
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