Property super-site
Independent newspapers has partnered with Gravity, a subsidiary of the PA Group and developer of a revolutionary property search engine, to drive its property super-site launched on the 7th of January 2009.
This follows the launch of IOLProperty.co.za last year as the Independent Group sought to extend its print dominance of the real estate market into the online sector.
Grant Leigh, founder of Gravity and now GM of IOLProperty, says there was a compelling synergy between the two companies that made a partnership the natural progression. “The idea behind Gravity was to radically simplify the process of searching for a home online, by creating a program that automatically scans listings from as many estate agencies as possible and puts them into a single, searchable index.
We received up to 270 000 listings from more than 10 000 agents, but the index was still not fully comprehensive because it was limited to online listings and could not incorporate those from print publications. However, with the bulk of print-only listings being in the Independent Newspapers publications such as the Saturday Star and the Sunday Tribune, we will now be able to close the loop.”
To complete the catalogue, the site will also be displaying properties from the Property Trader family of magazines, which operates in regions outside the Independent property footprint.
The site will thus undoubtedly have the biggest selection of properties for potential buyers to choose from, managed via the user-friendly Gravity search facility. Potential buyers and investors will also be able to find the latest property news and advice on the site, gathered from the Independent Newspapers property pages and other reliable sources.
Rudi Botha, CEO of the PA Group says: “This is an exciting and innovative concept that will aid both property professionals and those looking to purchase property.”
Leigh points out that from the estate agent’s point of view, there will be two major advantages to the IOLProperty super-site, the first being that no effort is required to put listings on the site as these are automatically acquired by the Gravity software.
“The second is that Independent provides a massive marketing footprint. Start with Independent Online's two million monthly unique users and add to that aggressive print advertising across newspapers such as the Star, Argus, Cape Times, Mercury and Daily News to name a few - who else can match that, particularly in the current economic climate?”
Leigh says the launch of the new site will be a groundbreaking step for IOLProperty and there are some more interesting developments in store for the coming months. “In short, as competitor sites reach their point of maturity, IOLProperty is in position to revolutionise the online property market.”
