Buyers, tenants embrace internet as tool for finding dream homes

Home seekers including buyers and prospective tenants have embraced internet services as veritable tool for finding their dream homes in different parts of Nigeria and even beyond, Lamudi, an online market place has revealed in its latest report on the property market.

The report, the second in the series, also reveals that online property market is growing in emerging markets, recalling that  the 2015 report provided expert insights into the future of real estate in such countries  as Mexico, the Philippines, Pakistan, Indonesia, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The annual report was compiled from analysis of Lamudi’s on-site data, expert interviews in each market and a series of surveys with house-hunters and real estate professionals. Spanning the years 2014-15, each country report covers topics including real estate price trends, foreign investment and the growing importance of sustainability issues in emerging countries.

 The current report which was made available to BusinessDay, also shows that the house-hunting process is shifting online in emerging markets, with both property-seekers and real estate agents reporting increasing use of online tools including real estate portals and social media within the sector.

“While using property portals is a common practice in developed markets, it is a relatively new phenomenon in emerging markets where internet penetration remains low but rising fast”, the report notes.

Lamudi’s 2015 real estate market report found that in the Philippines, a dramatic increase in internet penetration has had a profound effect on local businesses, including those in the real estate industry.

A survey of local brokers revealed that 91 percent of all professionals observed a significant increase in online inquiries. In addition, 59 percent of those surveyed cited online listings platforms as their channel of choice to advertise properties.

Similar trends have been observed in Pakistan where a survey of local house-hunters revealed that 85 percent of respondents believed the role of the Internet in house-hunting has increased. Likewise, in Sri Lanka, a customer survey showed that 75 percent of property-seekers believed the internet has dramatically transformed the way people find homes to buy or rent, while in Indonesia onsite data reveals that online property searching is driven by people between age 25 and 34, which is the primary age bracket for first-time home buyers.

“Lamudi’s annual report is the only comprehensive overview available for real estate in the emerging markets. We have an extensive amount of data at our disposal, which provides a unique global perspective of the future of property in Asia, Latin America and beyond. Over the coming weeks, we will be releasing further country reports for the Middle East and several key markets in Africa”, said Kian Moini,  Lamudi global co-founder and managing director.