We live in a world of convenience, where we expect to be able to make an informed choice from as comprehensive a selection as possible access the most relevant information.
So when it comes to searching for property to buy how can you be sure you are making an informed choice from the complete selection of properties on the market? – simple you would think, just go to the web!
The fact is though that not all real estate websites showcase the most comprehensive selection of property.
This issue was highlighted by this post on TechCrunch which rightly asked the question in the US of “how accurate are listings on real estate sites?” -as the author says
I suggested that the most important success factor for these sites is how comprehensive they are. The more listings the better because home buyers want to go to one place to find every home on the market. They want a single dashboard from which they can filter down the choices.
In an effort to assist in understanding what this means here in NZ I have presented here some facts on a national as well as a local basis, comparing 3 different websites. The key thing to remember between the US and NZ is that in the US each market has an MLS (Multiple Listings Service) – a central database whereby all agents feed all listings to one organisation which manages this database for the benefits of all agents and buyers – a clearing house for the industry. Here in NZ there is no such MLS which means that each company markets their listings individually and often exclusively.
So the facts. Firstly some websites like our own realestate.co.nz state on every page how many listings there are – in total today we have 107,000 listings across the whole website with 75,643 properties and sections for sale, drill down to see for example how many properties are listed for sale in Blenheim and you see 219. Trade Me Property similarly shows that in total they have 55,188 properties and sections for sale from the site’s total of 85,655 listings today and by comparison they have 104 properties listed for sale in Blenheim.
Allrealestate.co.nz, another real estate web portal does not show the total number of listings on their home page; although in their annual report they state that as of June 2008 they had 40,725 listings. However when you do a search for Blenheim you do find the website has 69 properties listed for sale.
As is often commented real estate is a local business and to provide a perspective of comparable listings across these 3 major sites I have at random analysed a dozen suburbs around the country to see the results of the number of listings on each website. The graph shows the degree with which each website delivers as comprehensive selection within the particular suburb.
The fact is that realestate.co.nz being an industry owned website showcases the most comprehensive selection of property for sale in NZ. Equally being an industry owned website it is also important to highlight that it does not feature any private listings. An analysis of the listings on Trade Me Property which does featured private sales showed 18% of the listings for which the sample was undertaken were private listings.
Another key point to highlight here is the fact that most web portals for real estate do feature properties which are being marketed by more than one agent. A recent detailed study across the realestate.co.nz website showed that on average 12% of properties on the market are marketed as general listings by a number of real estate companies, this obviously results in duplicate listings – although this does show itself equally on all of these real estate websites.
So as clearly stated in the US post – when it comes to real estate as with any web search – the most comprehensive listing website is going to be judged the most valuable by buyers searching for property – you can’t beat the “one stop shop” mentality.
I have to dispute the comparisons you provide. You claim that for Blenheim, realestate has 219 listings and TM only 104. However, if you look at the surrounding suburbs more closely you will see that TM has many more listings. Look at Witherlea – TM has 15 dwellings and 22 sections, realestate only has 3 houses, no sections. A check on those listings shows that many of them are listed on realestate.co.nz under Blenheim, bumping that 219 number up.
If you search for houses in Marlborough District, realestate has 487, TM has 414. Yes, you still have more, but not double the number as your article suggests.
Allrealestate? Who are they?
Richard,
Thanks for highlighting this – I want to be clear I am not saying that in every area of the country we have twice the content. I merely chose a random selection of suburbs, I chose ones that were discrete areas that can be compared on the 3 sites – each search was for the suburb excluding surrounding suburbs.
The example of Witherlea is interesting – not somewhere I know but showcases the situation where in this market even with 90% of the industry using realestate.co.nz we still have companies like First National in Witherlea that do not subscribe – that office has 35 of the 49 listings in that suburb and of the 49, 25 are sections. Equally whilst we have only 3 houses they are from Summit and Harcourts – neither of which use Trade Me.
As ever real estate is a local business and each office selects the appropriate media that they feel provides the right service – we have tried to get First National in that suburb to subscribe, but at this time they choose not to.
Thanks Alastair, but I’m confused. First National doesn’t appear to have a seperate office in Witherlea, just the main one in Blenheim. If you search TM – Witherlea – Houses there are 9 houses listed for sale by First National Blenheim in Witherlea – all of these appear on realestate under the suburb of Blenheim.
Also, if I search realestate for sections in Witherlea suburb there are none. But if I search for sections in Blenheim with the keyword “Witherlea” there are 19, mostly listed by First National. These appear on TM for Witherlea suburb, not Blenheim. This is the main reason why “Blenheim” has more listings on realestate than on TM – they just appear to be more accurately defined when listed on TM. Perhaps you chose a bad example with Blenheim, but I chose it at random to verify and when you provide stats under the heading “So the facts” and they appear to be questionable, the integrity of the rest of the article must be called into question.
Richard,
Your assessment is valid and I appreciate the in depth review. The facts you sight speak to one of the challenges we face in running this website, it is a constant source of challenge to us – suburbs!!
Most countries operate a postcode or zip code structure and if you look at say a UK, Danish, Japanese, US or Australian website for property you select a Zip code and every property listed has a zip code. This ensures that properties are “where they are supposed to be!”
For NZ despite the best efforts of NZ Post we do not have universally recognised or adopted Postcodes. When it comes to property listings agents send us listings with an address (the street) – they then add a suburb – this suburb is their choice and can be influenced less by exactly where the property is as to where the agent may at time wish it to be. This is clearly recognised where a property is near a boundary between one suburb (favourable) and another (less favourable!). I am not saying that agents mislead – they know that is unacceptable, but unfortunately there is no “hard wired” correlation between street name / property and suburb.
So in the case in point take this listing at 165 Howick Road. The agents has selected the suburb “Blenheim” whilst clearly it is in the suburb of Witherlea. The listing is even titled Witherlea. As far as our site is concerned (naturally I cannot speak for how Trade Me Property works)- we operate the following rules for keyword search.
1. If the keyword searched for on the site exactly matches a database suburb name we show the listings in this suburb – 3 in Witherlea.
2. If you are searching within a suburb the keyword will be searched within the search results that is why when you search Blenheim property (Blenheim being a suburb) for the word Witherlea it looks for all the properties that feature that word and you get 16.
I have explained this in detail to demonstrate the business rules of the site – I guess the key issue we face is that we are a publisher and as such have no opportunity or ability to review and audit each listing – it is up to the agent to provide us with the data on a listing that best markets the property. I hope by having this dialogue and pointing agents to it we my expose this issue which from a user perspective can lead to some confusion of content.
As a final point I must apologise I got my First National offices confused the Mark Stevenson office does subscribe to our website – my mistake.
Alastair, thanks for the detailed responses.
I agree with you that inaccurate listings can be a source of frustration and confusion for website users and agents could do better to promote properties as accurately as possible. Cheers.
Alistair
These figures showing the volume of listings are interesting news to me, & while I don’t want to burst your bubble, I think the publc perception does not match the reality.
As a casual buyer, occasional seller and someone interested in monitoring what is happening in realestate (ie a user rather than a realestate agent) my first stop is always Trademe, followed by other sites such as these. I believe this would be the response of most in my position.
If you believe that what moves listings is how comprehensive the site is, then I suggest you need to start a campaign to promote this sites advantage over Trademe.
As a user, one thing I find frustrating is the overload of possibilities. 200 properties in Blenheim- assuming they could all basically fit my criteria, how do I make a choice ????
Yes, volume is good, but it can be daunting.
I will never forget our first visit to a large US shopping mall. I found some great things I hadn’t seem in NZ before, & my partner found more nice clothes that she had seen in her life, but after 4 hours following her around the shops we left with just my purchases because she could not make up her mind from the huge choice available !!!
Keith
Thanks for those comments. Let me share my response and I would be keen for you to respond.
1. The purpose of this website is not to “move” listings – we are a publisher of listings – same as the other sites. We do not sell property, we are not an agent. Therefore rich content is the most important thing. With that as the backbone of the site the key is to attract an audience.
2. Rich content can be frustrating – only though if a site cannot provide filtering. Trade Me by that measure is even more frustrating – it has 1,194,733 listings at this moment!!
3. Taking this issue of Blenheim – yes we have 219 listings on the site within the Blenheim town. But the reality most people have constraints – size, location and price.
So taking that into consideration if you have $230,000 to spend then I would say that the selection available is 52 listings – if the property has to have 3 or more bedrooms then there are just 42 to examine if you narrow your search to just the immediate town area and want to exclude Townsend, Redwood Village and Mayfield then there are just 18 to examine.
So I would argue that in reality nobody wants to search through more than 40 listings, but what they do want is convenience and the knowledge that they are searching within the most comprehensive selection – that is why they come to our site and use it regularly
We know from research that buyers use our site and Trade Me – Trade me provides an insight into private sale listings whilst our site provides the most comprehensive selection of property currently marketed by real estate professionals. At this time and as has been in the past the private sales market makes up around 10% of sales and probably a slightly higher number of listings.
The second most frustrating thing is POA.
I always look straight past these listings. If someone is not prepared to indicate a price range, I am not going to waste my time looking into something, only to find the expected price is way beyond my price range.
With plenty to choose from I only want to spend my time looking into property that match my criteria, & price range is a major criteria.
As your article states, there is so much data now available online, that it is the natural place to start looking, but we are also very used to filtering that data, & our filters are based on our own preconceptions – my attitude to POA is a good example of that preconception.
Your point 2 is the crux of the issue.
The number of listings is not as important as the way that users can find what meets their criteria.
Naturally the more listings, the more that may meet individuals criteria,and your 230k 3 bed example nicely demonstrates the filtering process.
The problem occurs with “Fuzzy” criteria, “nice to haves” “I never thought of that feature” “I didn’t know that area had such nice houses, Otara has such a bad reputation”
To me, the filtering is the key.
Keith,
Appreciate these issues – it is the great virtue of this blog to provide us as a company with the ability to listen – that is what I want to do and in so doing act on the comments to enhance the site.
Specifically when it comes to price we come up against the issue which constantly perplexes me – we publish the data we receive – it is the agent acting on behalf of the vendor who decides what form of “price marketing” they will utilise – we have to comply.
Set against this reality of the situation we face is the irrefutable fact shown in the recent research we undertook through Nielsen Online that showed that the #1 request of users of this site and all real estate websites at a staggering 96% desired component of all listings was an “accurate price or price range” displayed on the listing.
The key thing is sharing this with real estate agents – something I do at every opportunity and gradually attitudes are changing – by you asking the question we will through this blog bring it to their attention.
As to the more “subjective” search criteria – this is where this website will head in the coming months (no definite date as yet) – but I recognise that it is the future – stayed tuned!