More property hunters turning to online searches

MANILA, Philippines — More Filipino property hunters now prefer to search online for projects in the market, according to a property listing site.

In a briefing last week, Lamudi Philippines chief executive officer Bhavna Suresh said they have received 15 million user visits in 2017, which translates to a total of 2.7 million hours spent searching for properties online.

“This signals Filipino real estate hunters’ growing preference to searching online for projects for sale or for lease,” Lamudi said.

Suresh said the growing trend to shift online is prompting more developers, brokers and owners to break the brick-and-mortar barrier and cross over to a new business environment.

Based on data gathered by Lamudi, property seekers check at least eight listings on average, spending 10 minutes per visit, indicating their serious need for comparison when it comes to making a decision.

It added that 60 percent of these property seekers repeat visits, which means searchers have high intent in purchasing or leasing a property in the next six to 12 months.

“Buyers naturally do some ‘property window shopping’ before zeroing in on a shortlist and making a purchase decision. Doing it online is more efficient and complements their usual showroom and on-site ocular visits,” Suresh said.

Meanwhile, search data from Lamudi Philippines showed that in 2017, 59 percent  of property hunters looked for houses while 14 percent looked for condominiums, followed by land/lots at 12 percent, and apartments at 11 percent.

Of the house and lot searches, 49 percent looked for properties priced at P5 million and below, 35 percent for homes priced up to P20 million, 13 percent  for those priced up to P150 million, and interestingly, four percent for those with over P150 million price tag.

Suresh said this reflects that property hunters are inclined toward the lower end of the market.

She emphasized that while the property listing site allows developers to widen its reach to the market, they don’t have the power create actual demand.

“Our goal is to make sure that what is happening online is a pure reflection of what is available out there,”Suresh said.

“These searches, representing demand, are reflective of the real market scenario that as more unit types (supply) and price ranges are made available online to the market, the more concrete the demand patterns of the buyers become,” added Suresh.

Additional data from the property site also show that the country’s property sector remains a buyer’s market, with 61 percent of listed properties for sale and only 39 percent for lease.

At present, Lamudi Philippines has a total of 100,000 property listings.