Print real estate advertising ‘highly relevant’: Fairfax

Publisher Fairfax Media has defended its decision to buy a 50% stake in real estate print publication The Weekly Review following criticism of the investment by REA Group boss Greg Ellis.

Ellis, publisher of realestate.com.au, labelled the decision to invest in The Weekly Review “mind-numbing” in a surprise attack on his closest real estate listings rival.

But Tony Blamey, general manager of real estate at Fairfax media, says real estate print advertising remains “highly relevant”.

“A high proportion of people buy in the local area, so local advertising in print is highly ­relevant,” he told the Australian Financial Review.

Blamey says print media is still a “highly valued” component of real estate marketing.

“We see our local publications being very well supported,” he says.

Blamey also pointed out that Fairfax’s Domain.com.au website, which ranks a distant second behind realestate.com.au, had made up ground on its rival over the past year with the number of agents using the site growing by 6% to more than 6,000, despite the property market contracting over that period.

Interim results to December 31 put out by REA Group last week revealed that it had suffered a 4% drop in paying real estate offices on its listings websites realestate.com.au and property.com.au, the second consecutive six-month period that numbers have fallen.

More than 200 real estate offices stopped advertising on realestate.com.au and property.com.au in the second half 2011 with, numbers falling from 9,536 to 9,324 over this six-month period to sit below December 2009 numbers (9,329 paying agent offices).