Leading the way in mobile property search

SINGAPORE, 12 January 2015 - PropertyGuru leads mobile property search across the region with over two million downloads achieved for its suite of mobile apps. This represents a 53 percent year-on-year increase in PropertyGuru's mobile apps downloads. With 15 mobile apps across four countries and three languages, this achievement is unrivalled by any other property portal in the region. It affirms the Group's strategy of pioneering mobile property search in the region as well as a strong shift in consumer behaviour towards adopting mobile apps as the preferred form of property searching in South-East Asia. 

Mobile platforms nowadays represent more than 60 per cent of total leads PropertyGuru generates for its customers. "Our app provides instantaneous access to over one million property listings across all our four markets. Exciting new geo-located search experiences deliver an unparalleled property search experience wherever and whenever the user prefers. Dedicated apps for real estate agents also offer convenience and efficiency to their busy jobs. The app has grown from being a strategic complement to desk and mobile web platforms to become the foremost generator of leads for our business," said Steve Melhuish, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of PropertyGuru.

PropertyGuru's success in Mobile coincides with a broader trend in mobile search in Asia, which remains the world leader in smartphone usage and engagement. According to a global study from Google, Singapore is the number one smartphone adopter in the world at 85 percent. The use of a mobile app is allowing businesses and search portals such as PropertyGuru to reach out directly to the end consumer without the hassle of slow bandwidth or site performance but with all the personalised touch of quality service at the fingertips. In markets such as Thailand and Indonesia, the bandwidth argument is complemented by a new routine of spending the many hours stuck in traffic engaging in social media and looking for dream properties. It is no wonder that these two markets have witnessed some of the fastest growth.  

Users of the mobile app in Singapore were happy to share their positive experiences on the use of the app. Ms. Clarissa Weibel, a Singapore Permanent Resident looking for a larger Housing Development Board ("HDB") unit to house her family, said, "My work schedule is very hectic and I can only find time to do my property search during my lunch break or while commuting. The PropertyGuru app allows me to search for property quickly and on the move. It has a comprehensive catalogue of properties with information I need to narrow down my search based on unit size, number of bedrooms and most important of all, budget. I can even compare listings in detail via the five districts I am keen on."

PropertyGuru has been well recognized for its innovation in mobile property search, securing a fourth Mobex award for ‘Best App/Content' in 2014. In the last quarter, mobile app of PropertyGuru Singapore had consistently ranked within Top 20 in the Lifestyle Category on both iTunes and Google Play, and its nearest competitor out of the Top 30 ranking. The achievement of PropertyGuru's mobile apps was not just recognized by users, but also by more than 700 marketing professionals in Singapore. It recently clinched the #1 position in the "Digital Media of the Year: Property category" award organised by Marketing Magazine. 

About PropertyGuru Group

PropertyGuru Group is Asia's leading online property portal group used by more than 10 million property buyers, viewing over 90 million property pages and generating over 400,000 enquiries for real estate developer and agent advertisers - every month - across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. The Group has developed and launched 15 mobile applications in four countries and three languages. At the end of 2014, the Group recorded over two million downloaded mobile apps, and won first position in the property category for the "Digital Media of The Year 2014" award organised by Marketing Magazine. Headquartered in Singapore, PropertyGuru was founded in 2006 by two entrepreneurs with a vision to simplify the property search process and help buyers, sellers and investors make better property decisions faster. Taking advantage of Asia's growing affluence, property demand and online explosion, the company is market leader in Singapore, Thailand and

Indonesia, receiving its first VC investment funding in 2008 and secured approximately $60m investment in 2012 from Deutsche Telekom, South East Asia's largest digital investment to date. PropertyGuru was also the first to integrate its website with social media, first to launch Singapore's only dedicated property newspaper - read by more than 100,000 readers islandwide every month - and it has also developed a property events platform, with approximately 30 shows held annually across four countries, addressing 30,000 potential property buyers on the ground.  

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer 

Steve is an award-winning entrepreneur. In the last two decades, Steve built profitable companies throughout Asia and Europe. In 2006 along with his partner Jani Rautiainen, founded PropertyGuru. Under the auspice of this newly established brand, PropertyGuru provided a one-stop online shop for the listing and sale of residential and commercial properties to individual and institutional buyers and investors. Prior to Steve's current role, he held executive positions in various venture capital firms including Skype, AOL, Virgin Media, Vodafone, Extreme Media, iPass and Ariadne Capital. Steve's expertise in leading global teams resulted in a US$500 million turnover for a business unit for Cable & Wireless. In 2007, Steve was awarded the Spirit of Enterprise Award in recognition of his contributions to entrepreneurship in Singapore. Steve is a non-executive director for two other firms, an angel investor and member of the Business Angels Network South East Asia.