Real Estate Uncertainty Sparks Boom
26 March 2008
Real Estate Uncertainty Sparks Boom in New Zealand Online Property Advertising
With interest rates rising, the share market falling and uncertainty plaguing the real estate market, real estate agencies and franchise groups are spending more money on relatively affordable online advertising. This shift is bringing new revenue to popular New Zealand real estate website—allrealestate.co.nz.
According to US-based classified advertising expert Peter Zollman, executive editor of the Real Estate Advertising Report, a similar shift is taking place in the US, where the economy has been troubled for several months.
"Real estate agents and real estate advertising are in transition. Online will be a substantial winner and daily newspaper print is going to be a significant loser," he said.
New Zealand real estate industry leaders echo Mr Zollman’s view.[1]
Paul Lochore Professionals Real Estate Group Chairman for Australasia and based in Auckland's North Shore commented that with sales slowing and property taking longer to sell, placement of marketing investment will be crucial for clients and agents in achieving a successful outcome. Online marketing we have found effective and continuing to grow in value.
Trish Tilbury, Licensee, AREINZ
for LJ Hooker Levin in the Wellington region says increasing
days on market for listings is driving competition between
sellers more so than buyers. This means sellers need to
extend their advertising, so agents looks to see where their
dollar is best spent, and that is online. If the market is
slow sellers have to advertise more, and the internet lets
them do that better than other media at a cost that is not
prohibitive. The immediacy of online provides a real
advantage to sellers.
Andrew Mark Executive
Director of Professionals Real Estate Group also in the
Wellington region said with more property choice available
for buyers, the opportunity is there for them to be
selective, online property advertising provides the
advantage of close criteria matching, provides significantly
more visual display and presentation of a property over
longer time frames. This marketing will continue as a
strong focus for Professionals offices nationwide and the
huge numbers of owners we represent, with
allrealestate.co.nz being a key part of that mix.
Tony Brazier, Managing Director of Brazier Property
Investments in Christchurch said, “We’ve noticed that
there has been a significant decrease in the number of leads
from the local newspaper down to just 1.4% of our total
leads across the marketing mix. As time goes by, we now know
that the shift has been to online and that’s where inquiry
now stems from. For this reason, we are certainly putting
more emphasis into online marketing and will do so more and
more in the future – that’s the way to go.”
AUT
University has reported the internet is considered a more
important source of information for Kiwis than
newspapers[2]. This bodes well for real estate
websites.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the Interactive Advertising Bureau New Zealand’s 2007 year-end report provides further evidence of the web’s potential for growth, with online ad expenditures soaring 46.47 per cent in 2007.
Shaun Di Gregorio, General Manager – Asia Pacific of allrealestate.co.nz, said:
“I believe allrealestate.co.nz is well placed to capture a significant slice of the real estate advertising dollars that shift online—over the past 12 months we have already seen a massive investment by New Zealand real estate agencies of depth products on allrealestate.col.nz like feature properties by 180%[3].
“In an up market, the internet allows an agent to promote their agency and their listings to the largest single audience. In a down market, where listings take longer to sell or rent, the internet is the most cost effective way to reach a large audience over a long period of time. This is why we continue to see continued strong growth in the use of our online advertising products by New Zealand’s real estate agents.
“Ten years ago they wouldn’t have had any choice but to stick to print advertisements. Today agents can still invest in growing their business at a reasonable cost.”
Sources:
[1] Note to press: quotes and
interviews available
[1] Source: World Internet Project
New Zealand, AUT University December 2007
[1] Source:
allrealestate.co.nz internal statistics
Nielsen//NetRatings Market Intelligence
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_About
allrealestate.co.nz
allrealestate.co.nz has grown
dramatically in the last year to become one of the leading
real estate website in New Zealand, with an 33 per cent
growth in domestic visitors over the past 12 months.
allrealestate.co.nz is owned and operated by
realestate.com.au Ltd. (ASX:REA, and its subsidiary
companies, The REA
Group).
ENDS