The real estate industry is a highly competitive environment and successful estate agencies are led by principals who understand that for their businesses to continue flourishing in the long term, it is essential to list their properties on the best online property portals available.
To ensure maximum market penetration and enjoy a greater return on investment, diversification is key and several high traffic property listing platforms offer exceptional visibility and quality lead generation, without breaking the bank.
Read further to explore some of the options you may not have previously considered adding to your market strategy.
Established in 1998, Private Property was the first property marque of its kind in South Africa and is one of the leading online property portals in the country.
Aside from providing a plethora of industry-related news, trends, step by step guides, advice and property listings, Private Property offers invaluable information to local and international buyers with in-depth imagery and videos showcasing the multiple lifestyle offerings of neighbourhoods, from all nine provinces in South Africa.
March 2020 saw Private Property undergo a complete corporate rebranding, sporting a fresh new logo that was designed to reflect its new multichannel approach and expansion beyond just its digital platform.
These additional channels include a property expo, The Property Show for consumers, the Real Estate Industry Summit for industry professionals to be able to interact with the best South African and international industry minds, and the how-to magazine, The Property Guide.
For sellers who would like to take on the challenge of selling their properties without the aid of an estate agent, Private Property offers three affordable service packages with different facilities, depending on the chosen package, supported by a dedicated helpline.
Founded in 2014 and 100% privately owned, ImmoAfrica is a leading property portal for estate agents and commercial property brokers in South Africa that offers innovative advertising solutions for its partners to drive targeted traffic and generate high quality leads.
Being one of the lowest Cost Per Lead (CPL) platforms, over 90% of South Africa’s top estate agencies list their properties on ImmoAfrica and it is officially this country’s No. 1 free-to-list property portal in stock (over 220 000 listings), traffic (1.5 million page impressions per month) and leads (40 000+ leads per month).
It is the only multilingual property portal in South Africa, with a strong foothold in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, literally dominating Google.de/.ch/.at for any South African real estate related searches. This makes it the perfect channel for agencies looking to target foreign buyers, renters and investors in key European markets.
As recently as March 2022 ImmoAfrica was ranked number 10 in the “Top 30 South Africa Real Estate and Property Blogs & Websites” from thousands of blogs on the web ranked by traffic, social media followers, domain authority and freshness.
The portal is updated daily with fresh new listings, topical real estate news, tips, and advice and a bi-weekly newsletter, covering topics for home buyers, home sellers, landlords, tenants, “DIY’ers” and lifestyle enthusiasts.
Launched in 2005, Gumtree is among the oldest players on the block and one of the most popular sites in South Africa for buying and selling goods.
Backed by international expertise and support, Gumtree is the 6th largest site in South Africa, reaching 18% of the population every month, and it’s free to list, too!
One of the top categories searched is housing and flat rentals and with the longest, most diverse property categories, is easy to navigate, whether via mobile phone or desktop.
The Gumtree for Business offering provides agencies with the opportunity to list their sales, rentals, and residential and commercial properties with custom branding, upload properties with integrated feed partners and provides reports to keep track of leads.
As a trusted and familiar brand, 30 000 new ads are posted on Gumtree every single day and provides a platform for 1m monthly property visitors.
Since 2003, MyProperty has remained a proudly 100% independently owned property portal and states it is the only portal with an “agents only” approach, working solely with accredited, more professional estate agents to ensure transparency in the real estate industry.
Three of the 10 points listed in its manifesto are centred around the importance and value of estate agents to the industry, promoting the agents who provide the best service to clients, as well as looking after the interests of both estate agents and their clients.
The portal is uncluttered and streamlined, offering a wide range of tools including a bond calculator, property area profiles, property index and home loan pre-qualification.
In addition, MyProperty has a library of user-friendly handy guides for anyone looking for answers to those frequently asked financial and legal questions when buying, selling, or renting a home.
MyProperty intends to remain fully independent and continually invest in research and development to provide a superior service to the property industry.
In July 2019 IOL Property changed its name to Property360 and offers improved performance, user-friendly navigation for property seekers, new content verticals and overall greater functionality.
Its mission is to be the most relevant property portal in South Africa by providing the best technology platform and competitively priced products to agencies throughout the country to promote their property listings.
Aside from a wide range of property listings, Property360 is a hive of information, providing creative and innovative content, for and about, the property industry including current residential, commercial and auction property news, market trends and qualified area-centric information.
For readers seeking to add value to their homes, there are columns dedicated to DIY projects, building issues, home and décor tips and a free weekly property magazine online.
Property360 is a dynamic and evolving resource and over the coming months, promises readers further improvements and more features for registered users on the portal, all designed to improve user experience and provide more value to the real estate industry.
Conclusion
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!
Property professionals in South Africa are fortunate to have access to multiple, quality property platforms. Such healthy competition ensures lower Cost Per Lead (CPL) rates, active innovation, improved efficiency across the board, and long-term sustainability in the portal landscape.
🔥 HOT TIP: Go ahead and give these portals a try for three months. Keep track of all the leads you receive (Phone, WhatsApp and Email), monitor your CPL and decide which ones work best for your agency and area. You might be surprised by the outcome. Good luck!
