LJ Hooker looks to sell more property to Chinese buyers with three-year marketing deal with international property listings portal Juwai.com

Amid expectations of a surge in Chinese buyers of Australian and New Zealand property, LJ Hooker has signed a new three-year strategic partnership with Chinese property listings portal Juwai.com.

A previous 12-month agreement was signed in July last year and has been successful to date with 30% of calls from estate agents to the LJ Hooker head office about wanting a closer relationship with Juwai.com.

Juwai’s two co-CEOs will attend LJ Hooker’s annual conference in Queensland this week to explain how LJ Hooker franchisees can attract as many Chinese buyers as possible to their listings.

Juwai.com bills itself as the top-ranked international property portal for the world’s Chinese-language population.

The new agreement follows Juwai.com recording a 61% rise in Australian residential property searches since the start of the year with property viewings up 162% over the same period.

Chinese buyers spent over $4.2 billion on Australian property in 2011 compared with $1.1 billion spent in 2009, earning Australian estate agents about $48 million in commission in 2011.

The new partnership will include LJ Hooker participation in “elite international property expos in China, attended by high net worth Chinese buyers”.

The real estate group will also get greater exposure to the Chinese market through a special corporate landing page hosted behind the Chinese government firewall; corporate banner ad campaigns designed around the core offshore purchasing seasons as well as other branding initiatives.

LJ Hooker estate agents will also receive exclusive discounts on selected premium advertising products on Juwai.com.

Greater demand among Chinese buyers for prestige residential property is also expected due to the new significant investor visa (SIV) with the first such visa issued just over a week ago to a Chinese toy manaufacturer.

Further issuances of SIVs are expected to flow through to the prestige end of the property market - residential property does not qualify as part of the $5 million investment requirement, but successful applicants will want somewhere to live.

LJ Hooker chief executive Georg Chmiel says that "on the whole, Australian agency brands are not well known in China".

"Our extra branding and advertising on Juwai.com will mean that Chinese buyers know and trust LJ Hooker long before they hear about any other agency network," he says.

Simon Henry, co-CEO of Juwai.com said Chinese buyers are now more confident when planning property inspection and buying trips. 

“It can take 12 weeks to obtain their visa to visit Australia and they use that time to thoroughly research the market. That makes it critical to reach them before they leave China,” he says.