This week's product roundup includes another great initiative from Domclick—the second in consecutive weeks. And interestingly, we've spotted three big moves in Germany in the past week alone.
Meanwhile, it's not quite a product update from Dubizzle, but they have shared some solid numbers that we thought were worth sharing. In France, SeLoger has earned praise from a French real estate developer, and there's a new AI search tool in Iraq.
The German branch of the United States-based real estate franchisor Keller Williams has partnered with Germant market leader ImmoScout24 to provide Keller Williams realtors access to ImmoScout's top membership level.
ImmoScout recently unveiled a new three-tier membership system, whereby a 'Gold' membership provides realtors with listings, acquisition services, a cost calculator tool to improve energy efficiency, training for brokers, and data and evaluation services drawn from the recently acquired Sprengnetter Group.
"We are very pleased to support Keller Williams with our new, powerful memberships," said ImmoScout24’s managing director Dr. Gesa Crockford.
Swen Nicolaus, CEO of Keller Williams Germany, said:
"Our goal is to provide our brokers with the best possible support in the acquisition and marketing of their properties on the German real estate market. We are therefore very pleased that we have Germany’s leading real estate portal at our side as a cooperation partner."
Aviv Germany has relaunched three housebuilding platforms in partnership with Neuram Ventures, which it acquired in February.
The housebuilding segments of ImmoWelt and ImmoNet, and the housebuilding portal Bauen.de have been renovated to be more user-friendly, said Aviv.
A company statement said:
"The renewed housebuilding portals are characterized by improved search functions, detailed provider and house profiles as well as an intuitive user interface.
"This makes it even easier for prospective homeowners to compare different houses and service providers in their area and find their ideal home.
Felix Kusch, managing director at Aviv Germany, said:
"By integrating Neuraum’s innovative digital solutions into Aviv Germany’s existing offerings, we have created a synergy that offers significant benefits for construction partners and users, making it more efficient and accessible."
Germany-based flexible housing provider Habyt has teamed up with South Korean real estate company SK D&D to market its properties in the region.
Habyt already operates shared and private residences in over 40 cities worldwide, and three cities in Asia: Singapore, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
The firm said revenue increased 40% in 2023 compared to 2022, and aims to reach profitability in 2024. Habyt also says it is profitable in “most key geographies.”
The firm raised a Series C round worth $42M in October 2023, bringing its total raised to $74M since its foundation in 2017.
Sber Bank, the owner of Russian marketplace Domclick, has added the option for buyers to 'inherit' the terms of the mortgage of the previous owner.
Sber launched the initiative to avoid punishing owners with new mortgage terms that are more expensive than they were for the previous owner.
If the property was already mortgaged, Sber will allow the new owner to match the interest rate and other terms that the previous owner arranged.
Buyers will pay 1% (one percent) of the outstanding balance as a transaction fee, with a minimum payment of 12000 rubles (USD 128) but never exceeding 30000 rubles (USD 321).
However, the new offer is not applicable for mortgages with a subsidised rate or preferential programs including state support, family mortgages, military mortgages, and more.
Alexey Leipi, Director of Domclick division of Sberbank, said:
"In the current environment, the rate on a previously taken mortgage may be lower than what is currently set. Domclick already has such a service, and we propose to use this opportunity more widely."
Wikicasa, Italy's number three, agent-backed portal has partnered with credit specialist Credipass.
The partnership will provide over 15 thousand professionals who use Wikicasa products with tools capable of significantly facilitating the final process of the sale, in which access to credit plays a crucially important role.
Andrea Pugnetti, COO of Wikicasa:
"The real estate search experience must be increasingly complete and capable of supporting the end customer during the property purchase process.
"Wikicasa's objective is to make quality services and information available to its 13 million unique users on every topic that may have an influence on the decision-making process of potential buyers, including those related to the availability of access to credit.
"In a market that is going through a period of profound change, collaborating with a strategic partner like Credipass which, alongside transversal skills in the sector with the desire to make the market increasingly transparent, represents a 360° added value."
Iraq-based real estate marketplace Homele has launched an AI search tool including voice functionality. The new tool is powered by ChatGPT.
Soran Hamawandi, founder and CEO at Homele, said:
"You can speak directly into the tool, and the AI will filter out all the relevant results, which will all be personalized, without you even needing to type.
"The current preferred way involves conducting in-person visits for each property you are interested in, with your knowledge of which options being available to you limited just to specific areas.
"The app, with its advanced filters and now the AI-driven tool, will make the entire process much less time-consuming and more accurate."
Homele was founded in 2020 and has over 30,000 listings on its portal.
SeLoger Neuf, the new-build arm of the leading French portal SeLoger, has apparently worked wonders for one partner since it launched its Neo Extend offer—introduced in September 2023.
Commenting in ImmoMatin, Antoine Boulanger, the web marketing manager for French real estate developer LP Promotion Group, says the Neo Extend offer drove 3x more contact in Q1 2024—matching the total number of contacts it generated in the second half of 2023.
Boulanger also highlighted the number of reservations multiplied by 10x.
"Thanks to Neo Extend, our programs benefit from simultaneous broadcasting on SeLoger Neuf, Logic-Immo neuf, SeLoger and Logic-Immo, four sites dedicated to real estate which between them bring together more than 1.5 million visitors," he commented.
UAE-based classifieds company Dubizzle says it increased the number of leads for real estate agencies by 26% in the 12 months from March 2023 to March 2024.
Interestingly, 39% of buyers in Q1 2024 were under the age of 40, an 8% YoY increase.
Meanwhile, Dubizzle also shared that off-plan transactions also rose by 5% YoY, worth $21.3Bn from a shade over 16,500 transactions.
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