Chinese property websites don’t have monopoly

Chinese property websites don’t have monopoly, says real estate boss

“Those wanting to sell property should not get carried away with Chinese property listing websites that are getting plenty of air time at the moment and are falsely trying to give the impression they’ve got the domestic and offshore Chinese market captured,” says Geoff Barnett, National Manager of Century 21 New Zealand.

“The impression being given is that these big Chinese property websites have a monopoly on Chinese investors and purchasers. They do not. In fact they’re miles off.

“What’s more if vendors start pouring too much of their precious marketing money in one direction and off-shore they will miss out on other marketing opportunities closer to home where demand remains relentless.

“At Century 21, we have always had a large number of offshore and local resident Chinese transacting property and we welcome their business,” he says.

Mr Barnett says Century 21’s global website www.century21global.com has a far greater reach than websites which only target Mainland Chinese residents, and contains translated listings from around the world. Every listing with Century 21 New Zealand is included on the Century 21 global website at no cost to the vendor.

In fact viewers of the site are able to instantly translate the entire website into 16 languages, with email questions and answers also easily translated.

“While getting your property listed on a Chinese property website may initially seem like a good idea, the reality is Century 21 has had such facilities available for some time – and with the additional support of translations,” continued Mr Barnett.

“Century 21’s global website not only includes every listing from our many offices around the world, but an email sent in Mandarin or Cantonese from China to one of our local agents will also arrive in English.

“I believe Century 21’s is one of, if not, the most sophisticated property listing website in the world,” he says.

While New Zealand is increasingly becoming one of the most searched countries according to one of China’s big property search engines, Mr Barnett says Chinese buyers and investors also look via other internationally-linked or domestically-based websites.

“Chinese buyers, like the rest of us, will browse all sorts of sites and consider many possibilities – so long as they have the seamless capability to fully translate and communicate in their language.

“For this reason, it’s important to remember that Century 21 is the world’s largest residential real estate sales organization. We’re constantly picking up a great deal of offshore and onshore interest from a number of countries not just from Chinese buyers, which means truly global exposure.

“I warn vendors not to be sucked in with all this talk of Chinese-based property websites that claim to somehow have the market captured. You don’t need to spend big or use Chinese-only listings sites to effectively reach and engage with the Chinese market.

“You just need to ensure your real estate company has an extensive global reach, and is a part of a sophisticated and wide-ranging network,” says Mr Barnett.

ENDS

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