New property listings website set to challenge industry giants
The website of the newest competitor to online property listing giants realestate.com.au and domain.com.au started operating last week.
Applabs Australia’s Home Open website was launched last Monday, completing the company’s set of real estate search portals.
The iPhone application version of the real estate search site was launched at the end of May. The iPad version was made available at the end of June and Android version launched in late July.
Real estate agents are also able to 'white label' the site, applying their own branding to system.
“Over the coming months, work will continue on the agent signup process with a particular focus on Western Australia where the greatest adoption has occurred to date,” Applabs managing director Stuart Kidd said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange.
“Having a particular focus on an individual state initially will also allow for greater assessment of the effectiveness of any initiatives before they are rolled out Australia wide.”
REA Group’s Realestate.com.au and Fairfax Media's Domain.com.au portals dominate the online property search market nationally, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne.
Fairfax Media’s purchase of the Canberra-based All Homes property portal in July, adds to its share of the eastern market.
Fairfax reported last week that Domain’s online revenue grew by 33% compared with the previous the year.
Revenue in from REA Group’s Australian residential business also grew by 33% in the year ending June 30, 2014, the company reported this month.
Applabs Technologies will now concentrate on the agent registration process for the site and an upcoming consumer launch. Upgrades of the iPhone and iPad versions will be released in the coming weeks.
Patrick Glovac, who spoke to Property Observer in March about the new venture, was appointed managing director of Applabs Technologies last Thursday to provide additional management resources to the company. Glovac had previously been a non-executive director of the company.
