Technology and innovative business models paving the way for growth of online Property Classified Platforms in Philippines
The Property Classifieds Platform
market of Philippines has a potential to grow exponentially in the country
supported by newer technology and innovative business models. Owing
to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an expected increase in demand for these
classified platforms due to their user-friendly interfaces.
In conversation with Mr.
Ramjit Lahiri, Vice President of Lamudi, we attempted to seek his
opinion and understand his side of story to the changing fortunes of the
Property Classified Platforms Industry and how are companies gearing up for it.
Q1: What
have been the trends governing the classified property platform market of
Philippines in the past few years and how has it grown?
Irrespective of the global dips
in the economy and recessions, this particular industry has always recovered.
Property in general, is bought for two purposes- investment and living. The
classified market, in particular, has been catering not to the investment need
but to the living need of the consumers. However, this does not mean that there
aren’t any consumers who are not looking for investments. Just that the
proportion of these consumers is very small as compared to the end users of the
property. For Philippines, the real estate market has been a very traditional
market. There are 4-5 major conglomerate players who own the real estate
industry (SMBC, Robinson’s Land, Ayala Land etc). However, in the past 5 years,
the need to adopt newer technology, to operate the market, has been felt and
this is where the classified platforms have come into play and have gained
popularity. With the onset of COVID, this process of adoption was accelerated.
Instead of putting up ads on billboards, all major developers were now heavily
relying on digital channels to market their properties. The classifieds
industry, overall, benefitted from the pandemic. Developers were desperate to
move their inventory, and an easy solution was these classified platforms.
Classified companies are trying to build their technological capabilities
in-house and are also investing in technology provided by third parties to grow
their business.
Q2: As
mentioned, the classifieds market mostly caters to the end-users of properties
and not the investment market. What would you say is the reason behind this and
what would be the distribution of the consumers?
Most of the consumers are
end-users, however, there are a few investors as well. About 90% of the
consumers are end users. The reason being, that if you’re looking out to
invest, as a consumer, you would already have certain connections with
developers. People looking for properties online are mostly looking for their
first homes, second homes so on so forth.
Q3: With the
increase usage of technology, one would expect that such online platforms are
popular only with a particular age group. What would be your opinion on that?
Also, would you say there exists a gender gap amongst the consumers?
The majority of the people using
these online platforms lie in the age group 20 to 35. About 65% of the users of
platforms come from this age group. They are the most comfortable using them.
Also, this is the age group where people start looking for their first homes.
While speaking about the gender gap, one could note that the economy overall is
driven by women in the Philippines. In mostly all fields, women dominate the
industries and the same goes for the consumers of classified platforms. The gender
ratio is of about 60-40 with 60% being women.
Request For Free Sample Report @ https://www.kenresearch.com/sample-report.php?Frmdetails=MjkzMTk
Q4: What are
the most popular geographical regions where these classified platforms have
experienced maximum growth?
Philippines is skewed towards
Metro Manila and the areas surrounding it (NCR). 75% of the traffic of these
classified platforms comes from Metro Manila and the areas surrounding it and
the rest of the country accounts for about 25%. The demand for housing is the
maximum in these areas as well.
Q5: There
has been an influx of technology into the space of the property classified
platform industry. In your opinion, what could be some other forthcoming
changes in the business models of these platforms to accelerate growth?
Platforms nowadays, want to be a
one-stop-shop for their users. The change with respect to business models will
come in by trying to increase the consumer reach by tapping into the
transaction space. Currently, most of the platforms are just a space to connect
the buyers and sellers. They don’t influence the buying or influence the
selling. They just play the role of connecting the buyers and sellers. Most of
the developers now, are looking for a platform that not only market their
product but also move their product. Meaning, for example, developers would now
not only be concerned with the sale of units that the platform was able to
carry forward but also with the advertising of the properties which would
increase awareness amongst users. This is what would now matter. Classified
platforms are now trying to come up with solutions and models to this, to move
towards the transaction space. That within a classified set-up, how can one
become a brokerage as well to sell properties- either through an in-house team
or through an affiliated network. Platforms cannot sell subscriptions beyond a
limit, but tapping into the transaction space will give them the opportunity to
grow exponentially. Platforms would also move from just subscription models to
commission models for higher growth as the earnings from this model would
depend upon the number of units sold through the platform and this is where all
of the innovation will come. Another aspect of growth in the industry would be
the introduction of virtual reality. The aim is to bring the homes to the
screen of your devices for a user-friendly comfortable experience. Virtual
reality would enable 3D tours of properties which would help consumers buy
properties with ease.
Q6: How do
you see the market growing in the near future, say 5 years?
It is difficult to predict the
growth of the market for the coming years due to COVID-19. As the market is
extremely fragmented, no one entity will be able to give a precise growth
trend, owing to the uncertainty that the pandemic has brought in with it.
However, before the pandemic, a 7-8% year-on-year growth was predicted.
For any
queries or feedback, reach out to the author at Namit@kenresearch.com
To Find More Real Estate Market Research Reports, refer to this link:-
Contact Us:-
Ken Research
Ankur Gupta, Head Marketing &
Communications
