PropertyGuru Named Best Media Owner in Mob-Ex Awards 2016

SINGAPORE, 19 February 2016 – PropertyGuru Group, (“PropertyGuru” or the “Group”), Asia’s leading online property portal group, announced today that it received the Gold Award for the Best Mobile App - Media Owner category for the Mob-Ex Awards 2016. 

 

The Best App – Media Owner category recognises the best mobile application designed to help mobile publishers build stronger relationships with their audiences. This award is for any media-owned app that provides convenience, entertainment or education to the end user, while increasing brand proposition and subscription.

 

PropertyGuru revamped its Consumer Mobile Application in September 2015 across the four markets in which it operates – Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. This  was done to cater to a growing market of users who are increasingly reliant on mobile rather than desktop devices to search, locate and secure suitable properties to rent, buy or sell. According to a global study from Google , Asia has gone mobile-first. The adoption of mobile search has surged across Asia, with Singapore leading the pack at 85 percent. The use of mobile apps allows businesses and search portals such as PropertyGuru to reach out directly to the end consumer through their most personal devices, mobile phones, and provide personalised touches and quality services.

 

Steve Melhuish, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of PropertyGuru Group, said, “We are very pleased to be awarded Gold Award for the ‘Best Media Owner’ category. With the newly revamped mobile app, we are directly meeting the needs of consumers in Asia who want to access property information in an easy, digestible format via their mobile devices.” 

 

PropertyGuru Group recorded a 25 percent increase in new downloads across all markets just two months after going “live”. Users were more engaged in the refreshed app, recording a 31 percent growth in the number of page views within the same period. The success of the new app can also be measured by the amount of traffic from the App, when users utilise in-app functions to help ease their property search. In that regard, PropertyGuru registered a 54 percent growth in leads.

 

“Our app provides instantaneous access to 1.3 million property listings across all our four markets with a single tap on a screen. PropertyGuru is thriving successfully on the mobile app wave by giving customers unparalleled convenience in their property search and new geo-located search experiences via the app. 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.

 

In Singapore, PropertyGuru recorded a 29 percent spike in user downloads, giving rise to more than 820k users by end of October. This translates to almost one in every three Singapore residents between 20-64 years old  having the app in their mobile devices. The majority of new users are aged 25-34 years old, looking to buy their first property, to rent or to upgrade as they get married and start families.

 

Some of the features that consumers can look forward to when downloading the newly revamped PropertyGuru App include:

1) More intuitive navigation

Navigating around using the refreshed mobile app is more intuitive now. With a cleaner menu, and an accessible side menu, searching for properties and related information is made even easier than before.

 

 

2) Search Made Easy

a) Most Used Filter 

Searching for properties is now made easier, as PropertyGuru has trimmed down the search form to the most used/useful search options based on user feedback. Simply put: more intuitive, faster results.

 

 

 

b) Map Search

For those who are better at reading maps than words, they can now view search results on a map:

 

 

3) Better display of visuals and information

Property photos are prominently displayed with current and relevant information of the property (such as name, price, property type, address, psf price, size of property, basic facility), in both search results and listing details.

Within the listing details, the contact options are standardized for easier use, and for a consistent experience. Consumers can easily register their interest via the PropertyGuru app, and contact the agents/developers directly via call, SMS or email.

 

 

 

You can also “heart” your way to your dream home, clicking on the “heart-shape” icon at the top right hand corner of the listing. These selections will be synchronised between your mobile and desktop devices when you log in.

 

 

4) Useful tools built into Listing results

a) Mortgage Calculator for Immediate Estimation 

Handy tools such as the loan calculators are built into the app to allow consumers estimate mortgage affordability immediately. It is able to breakdown both estimated monthly repayment, principal amount as well as interest rates.

 

 

b) Transactional data (available in SG only)

Property seekers can now access transacted prices of properties sold within the same project. They can sort by transaction date, property size, price, PSF price, or sale type. In addition, when in: 

• “Sale” view:  they can filter by the unit’s level; 

• “Rental” view, they can filter by the number of bedrooms.

 

 

5) Better Navigation, With Emphasis on New Projects

In the four markets, newly launched projects often form the bulk of sale transactions. From searches done on PropertyGuru, we observed the most searched projects correspond to the latest launches. 

New Projects now comes with bigger visuals, more detailed information, and direct access to the developer/agent’s contact, allowing property seekers access to updated information at their finger tips.

 

 

 

6) Overseas Properties Featured 

Across the four markets, Singaporeans emerged top with interest to purchase an overseas property. With more countries relaxing laws on foreigner ownership of properties or land, e.g. Cambodia and Vietnam, as well as stronger Sing dollar vs foreign currency such as Australian dollar, Japanese Yen and Malaysian Ringgit, Singaporean’s interest in overseas properties have been robust.

 

 

 

 

---ENDS---

For media queries, please contact:

Brian Witte

Ruder Finn Asia

+65 6336 5753

witteb@ruderfinnasia.com 

Cherry Lui

Ruder Finn Asia

+65 6336 0729

luic@ruderfinnasia.com 

Michelle Tan

Ruder Finn Asia

+65 6336 6408

tanm@ruderfinnasia.com 

 

About PropertyGuru Group

PropertyGuru Group is Asia’s leading online property portal group used by more than 14 million property buyers, viewing over 116 million property pages and generating over 500,000 enquiries for real estate developer and agent advertisers – every month – across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. 

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, PropertyGuru has become market leader in Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. The Group received S$175million investment - the second largest in the technology sector in Southeast Asia in 2015 - to support its innovation, marketing and further expansion in the region.

PropertyGuru has a full suite of integrated property media capability, from its original core business in Online, Mobile and Events, to Television broadcast (in Indonesia, via an investment and partnership with EMTEK), and a recent acquisition of Print and Property Awards businesses, under the brand names of “Property Report” and “Asia Property Awards”. With a continued focus on innovation, PropertyGuru has developed and launched 15 mobile applications in four countries and three languages. At present, the Group records over 2.8 million downloaded mobile apps. In the past two years, PropertyGuru launched over ten major products and enhancements to help consumers make better property decisions, such as website and mobile app revamp, FloorPlans, a new listing quality ranking algorithm, SmartSelect – the world’s first research engine for easier property comparison, Agent Insights – a ‘big-data’ development that delivers personalized insights to customers through automated programs, in-depth Project Reviews of the latest property launches, Map Search, and a whole suite of financing tools and calculators.

Businesses in the region include:

• Property search portals:

• Print and online publications:

• Events:

• Other Marketing solutions:

ABOUT STEVE MELHUISH

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Steve is an award-winning entrepreneur. In the last two decades, he built profitable companies throughout Asia and Europe. He co-founded PropertyGuru due to his personal frustrations at trying to find a new home in 2006. Today, PropertyGuru is the leading online property group in South East Asia used by over 14 million property seekers and 32,000 property advertisers every month. 

Prior to Steve’s current role, he had advised various firms including Skype, AOL, Virgin Media, Vodafone, Extreme Media, iPass and Ariadne Capital. He also led global teams and a US$500 million turnover 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 has invested in 4 digital media firms and is passionate about Asia + Digital.