Singapore, 05 September 2013 – PropertyGuru Group, Asia’s leading online property portal, recently hit a major milestone with more than 1 million downloads for its mobile apps in its core markets of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. The achievement is unrivalled by any other property portal in the region and affirms the Group’s strategy of pioneering mobile property search in the region.
Designed for both property agents and seekers, PropertyGuru’s suite of mobile apps were conceived in response to emerging shifts in consumer behaviour towards adopting mobile as a form of intuitive property searching in South-East Asia.
In the Singapore context, the growth of online queries for property is consistent with a property culture emerging. According to the recent Singapore Conversation Survey which reflects the key priorities for Singaporeans today, public housing is highlighted as one of the top three issues Singaporeans feel strongly about. Delving deeper, the prospect of owning a property ranks as the most important concern Singaporeans have, especially among those earning below $7000 monthly.
This obsession for property, together with aggressive smartphone adoption, has resulted in a staggering 70% growth in real estate searches originating from a mobile device as compared to 3 years ago. On PropertyGuru.com.sg, mobile property searches alone account for more than half of all visits, with property seekers viewing an average of 20 million pages monthly.
Chief Executive Officer and Group Co-founder, Steve Melhuish explained, “We are excited to see so much interest and enthusiasm we’ve received from property agents, buyers and investors alike who utilise our products and services to explore how they can carry out their property-related decisions faster while on the go."
“PropertyGuru foresaw the enormous potential in investing into mobile technology back in 2011 when 20% of consumers in our target markets were finding their ideal property on mobile. This figure has doubled within two years, opening up fantastic opportunities for PropertyGuru to be even more connected with them.”
The rise of mobile is even more pronounced in countries with developing property markets. Collectively, PropertyGuru saw 12 times the number of downloads for its mobile apps in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia within a one year period since July 2012, equating to almost 1400 downloads per day.
“Growth in downloads for PropertyGuru’s mobile apps can be attributed to the overall spike in smart phone usage in the region, with the property segment benefitting from the trend. With property buying and investing still ranks as the most important decisions one has to make in life, property seekers want to be updated on the latest market developments to avoid missing out on opportunities to find their dream home,” mentioned Melhuish.
“As consumers spend more time sourcing for property-related information, it sets the stage for property mobile apps to be a vital key in the property search equation, be it through casual property browsing or facilitating a relationship between agent and property seeker.”
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NOTES TO EDITOR
About PropertyGuru Group
PropertyGuru Group is Asia’s leading online property portal group used by almost 11 million property buyers, viewing over 89 million property pages and generating over 350,000 enquiries for real estate developer and agent advertisers – every month.
Headquartered in Singapore, PropertyGuru was founded in 2006 by 2 entrepreneurs with a vision to simplify the property search process and help buyers, sellers and investors make better property decisions faster. Taking advantage of Asia’s growing affluence, property demand and online explosion, it received its first VC investment funding in 2008 and most recently secured approximately $60m investment in 2012 from Deutsche Telekom, South East Asia’s largest digital investment to date. Since its launch, PropertyGuru has reported rapid growth and most recently announced a record 96% increase in revenue, 60% increase in internet users and 50% increase in paying agent advertisers to 24,000 – in 2012.
The award winning company focuses heavily on innovation. Over the last 2 years, the Company has developed and launched 15 mobile applications in 4 countries and 3 languages which have received over a million downloads – almost 50 per cent of its users in Singapore now originate from a mobile device. PropertyGuru was also the first to integrate website with social media, first to launch Singapore’s only dedicated property newspaper with over 100,000 copies circulated island-wide every month and developing a property events platform with approximately 30 shows held annually across 4 countries addressing 30,000 potential property buyers on the ground.
For more queries or to arrange for an interview, contact:
Katrina Karim
Mobile (+65) 9844 6618
Email katrina@thepublicrelationscompany.com
Adam Rahman
Tel (+65) 8112 8817
Email adam@propertyguru.com.sg