Product and Service Roundup: REA Group, Avito, Cian, AtHome.jp, HomesNI, OneDome

We have a hefty product roundup for you this week, starting in Australia...

REA Group to launch innovation centre in India

REA Group will open a global capability centre (GCC) in India next month.

The GCC will be tasked with building products in data, cloud, and AI for the bulk of REA's core markets, including Australia and India, where REA also owns Housing.com in its REA India segment. The company also seeks to increase its headcount in India to 10% of its global workforce.

The initial hiring spree will aim to hire up to 70 skilled workers to collaborate closely with the Australia segment.

Steve Maidment, CTO at REA Group, said:

"Our aim is to unlock the extensive Indian talent in data, cloud, AI and product development to build products for our users in Australia. REA cyber city teams will work directly with Australian teams on the group's leading products and platforms to shape and deliver experiences for millions of consumers every day across all stages of the property journey."

And... REA Group releases out-of-home marketing campaign ahead of peak selling season

Realestate.com.au has launched a significant OOH marketing campaign.

Sarah Myers, General Manager of Audience and Marketing at REA Group, said:

"In line with the launch of our ‘Keep Moving’ campaign, realestate.com.au hit an all-time high audience of 11.58 million people in July and a record unique audience lead over our nearest competitor of 5.08 million people. We’re thrilled to now be bringing these innovative outdoor executions into the campaign, to provide consumers with an engaging brand experience and encourage them to ‘keep moving’ into the spring property season."

United States: Zillow adds further natural language search features to its portal

Buyers and renters using Zillow's platform can search for their next home using simple, everyday language in even more ways — including by commute time, affordability, schools and nearby points of interest.

According to a press release from the American portal, users can "skip the filters and search in the Zillow app by simply describing their ideal home, just as they would when talking to a friend."

They can specify details such as layout, location and style — and now have new options to search by commute time, affordability, schools and nearby points of interest. Users can also save their searches and receive notifications when new qualifying listings come online.

Josh Weisberg, senior vice president of artificial intelligence at Zillow, said:

"From streamlining the home search to personalizing the user experience, Zillow applies AI in practical ways to help people get home.

"Search is one of the bedrocks of our platform, and we're always improving it to make it easier for users to find homes that meet their unique needs."

Avito Russia adds a new service linking agents with developers

The Russian marketplace giant Avito has launched a new service for selecting newbuild properties, to its real estate vertical.

The new service connects real estate agents with developers, who can then select and book new-build houses for their clients, allowing the agent to receive a commission from Avito when they close a sale—regardless of whether the developer has transferred money.

Developers connected to the new service will get an additional source of sales. Avito said circa 96,000 agents are already registered on the platform.

Dmitry Alekseev, managing director of primary real estate at Avito, said:

"This is another step towards simplifying real estate transactions and bringing benefits to all players: developers speed up sales, buyers get higher quality service, and real estate agents earn money on successful transactions."

The service has been rolled out to Voronezh, Ufa and Kazan with plans to expand to more Russian cities in the next 12 months.

Meanwhile, in Russia...Cian ranks residential property developers

Cian has introduced a ranking system for property developers to help would-be buyers avoid questionable off-plan schemes and minimise their time investment to find a suitable or appropriate off-plan property.

Cian marks developments as 'reliable' based on whether they have previously filed for bankruptcy, using valid escrow schemes to protect buyers' money, up-to-date project projections and outlines, punctuality on delivering finished projects, and sharing good quality images during construction.

Cian said circa 50% of developments on its site have been marked as 'reliable'.

In Japan, AtHome adds photo management service for agents

AtHome.co.jp has added a real estate image management service for agents in Japan.

The tool is an all-in-one offering that manages, processes and uploads images to the cloud, and each image will receive its own label and unique URL for identification further down the line. Agents take photos using a smartphone and then edit and format them on AtHome's platform.

The portal operator says 95% of users prefer seeing images from multiple angles of a property.

The service is available to over 60,000 agencies affiliated with the portal.

UK: New portal launches in Northern Ireland

HomesNI officially launched this week with 120 agents signed up and over 11,000 listings.

The portal will be free-to-use for the first month and then introduce a flat rate of £50+VAT per month per branch for all listings for a year, rising to £75 a month from 2026.

The portal plans to become majority-agent-owned in the future and wants to offer up to 75% of the business to agents in Northern Ireland.

Stephen Cousins, Managing Director of HomesNI said:

"We are so excited that HomesNI is now fully up and running and we’ve been blown away by how many Estate Agents are onboard with us. We’re thrilled to welcome HomesNI to the Northern Ireland property market.

"It’s great to have another platform where our clients can market their homes. It’s a new resource that we believe will make a real difference for both buyers and sellers."

It will be a tough market to crack given that rival portals PropertyPal and Propertynews announced a shock merger last month.

Also in the UK, OneDome closes partnership with Costco

OneDome has partnered with Costco, giving Costco members access to OneDome's HomeBuyer Service.

Costco members can use the service at a reduced price starting at £949.

OneDome's HomeBuyer Service is a bundle of services homebuyers need when purchasing a property. The package covers access to a mortgage advisor, property legal services, homebuyer protection insurance and a dedicated property moving assistant.

Babek Ismayil, founder at OneDome, said:

"Our vision at OneDome has always been to simplify the home buying process, making it faster, simpler, and more cost-effective.

"By partnering with Costco, we are excited to extend this innovative service to millions of members, ensuring they enjoy an unparalleled home buying experience."

Sue Knowles, marketing director at Costco Wholesale UK, said:

"Costco is committed to providing our members with the best possible values and services. The inclusion of OneDome's HomeBuyer Service in our offerings is a testament to our dedication to member satisfaction and convenience.

"This service is not just about saving money; it's about simplifying one of the most significant transactions our members will ever make."