PropertyGuru Doubles Down on Malaysia with the Acquisition of MyProperty Data

The acquisition will promote greater transparency in the property industry as PropertyGuru empowers Malaysians with property data & insights

Kuala Lumpur, 27 November 2020 – PropertyGuru Group, (‘PropertyGuru’ or ‘the Group’), today announced it has entered into a share purchase agreement with TechnoDex Berhad and Real Estate Solutions Sdn. Bhd. to fully acquire Malaysia’s largest online property data company, MyProperty Data Sdn Bhd.

With this acquisition, PropertyGuru, the country’s largest property website, bolsters its leadership and commitment in Malaysia. PropertyGuru, that already offers the most home choices to Malaysians, today, also becomes the provider of the most comprehensive property data and insights to agents, financial institutions, home buyers, credit rating agencies, valuers and property developers.

MyProperty Data provides property data analytics and insights leveraging over six million unique records across sales, rentals, auctions, new development and geospatial information along with proprietary datasets in demographics, location, liveability and more.

MyProperty Data solutions are endorsed by industry bodies such as The Association of Property Valuers, Property Managers, Estate Agents & Property Consultants in the Private Sector – Malaysia (“PEPS”); Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (“MIEA”), and are utilised by major banks and over 1,200 valuation professionals in Malaysia.

Manav Kamboj, Chief Technology Officer, PropertyGuru Group said, “Advancing on our mandate to serve Malaysians in their home ownership aspirations, we now focus on bringing transparency with data and are pleased to announce this acquisition as we move towards creating an integrated property ecosystem.

Our goal is to empower Malaysians with accurate and easy access to data for every step of their property journey so that consumers can buy or sell property at the right market price and capitalise on potential gains in the future.

PropertyGuru and MyProperty Data have a shared vision to promote greater transparency in the Malaysian property market through democratization of property data. We started work on this vision together two years ago and launched Home Loan pre-Approval, to address Malaysia’s high loan rejection rates and home ownership issues.

We are delighted to welcome Joe Thor (Managing Director, MyProperty Data) and the MyProperty Data team to PropertyGuru Group as we now collaborate to provide high-quality real estate data and insight solutions for the entire industry – buyers, sellers, agents, developers, valuers and financial institutions.

Over the next few months, we will be investing substantially to expand MyProperty Data’s offerings and it will also entail growing the team with data scientists, engineers, product managers, sales and marketing experts. We look forward to serving over 5 million home seekers who rely on PropertyGuru every month to find, finance, and own their home with greater confidence.’’

Combining the forces of MyProperty Data’s data and expertise with PropertyGuru’s proprietary market insights, its data science and technology capabilities, PropertyGuru will now serve Malaysia with high quality and most comprehensive property and geospatial data, insights and data-backed solutions for the property industry to manage growth opportunities, and improve business performance.

Agents will benefit from valuable insights on pricing trends as well as detailed home reports which they can share with customers. Financial institutions and valuers will benefit from MyProperty Data’s proprietary property valuation management tools to better manage risks and achieve greater efficiency.

Market intelligence on locations, upcoming projects, amenities, and demographics will enable property developers to plan future projects. Malaysian home buyers will benefit the most from this ease of access and transparency on real-time transaction data and other factors that influence property valuations and their buying decisions.

Joe Hock Thor, Managing Director, MyPropertyData, said “This acquisition advances the goal we share with PropertyGuru – empowering Malaysians with accurate transaction data, so that they neither overpay nor underpay when making decisions.

PropertyGuru is no stranger to us as we have collaborated on many occasions, such as in developing a Pricing Insight exclusive to PropertyGuru in 2018 and the Home Loan Pre Approval in 2019. It was natural for us to further collaborate and we are delighted to join the Group,” Joe further elaborated.

“Moving into 2021, the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital demand in every arena, including property. Our goal is to use data to enable home ownership in Malaysia, to help consumers make more informed buying, selling, renting decisions and we look forward to partnering with agents, developers, financial institutions and valuers in the industry to work towards achieving this goal,” added Kamboj.

About PropertyGuru Group

PropertyGuru Group is Southeast Asia’s leading property technology company and the preferred destination for 24.5 million property seekers to find their dream home, every month. PropertyGuru and its group companies empower property seekers with the widest option of more than 2.7 million homes, in-depth insights and solutions that enable them to make confident property decisions across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

PropertyGuru.com.sg was launched in 2007 and revolutionised the Singapore property market by taking it online and made property search transparent for the property seeker. Over the decade, the group has grown from a regional property media powerhouse to a high-growth technology company with a robust portfolio of No.1 property portals across its core markets; award-winning mobile apps; best-in-class developer sales enablement platform, FastKey; mortgage marketplace PropertyGuru Finance; and a host of industry-leading property offerings including Awards, events and publications across Asia. For more information, please visit www.PropertyGuruGroup.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/propertyguru

About PropertyGuru Malaysia

PropertyGuru is Malaysia’s largest property website, as recognised by the Malaysia Book of Records. With over 450,000 home choices at PropertyGuru, it has the most properties to choose from. Voted ‘‘Best Online Property Portal” by consumers at the BrandLaureate Best Brands Awards, PropertyGuru is the preferred destination for over 5 million property seekers to find their dream home in Malaysia, every month. The company is part of PropertyGuru Group, Asia’s leading property technology company. For more information, please visit www.PropertyGuru.com.my.

Media contacts:

PropertyGuru Group
Sheena Chopra
+65 9247 5651
[email protected]

PropertyGuru to host Asia’s largest multi-country virtual property expo

‘Asia Virtual Property Expo’ will bring over 300 projects from 10 countries in a month-long event and digitally connect property seekers, developers, and agents in real-time

SINGAPORE, 10 November 2020 – PropertyGuru Group (‘PropertyGuru’ or ‘the Group’), Southeast Asia’s leading property technology (“PropTech”) company, today announced that it will host Asia’s largest multi-country ‘Asia Virtual Property Expo’ from 11 November to 12 December 2020. As the market leader in Southeast Asia, PropertyGuru will leverage its regional presence to showcase over 300 projects from across 10 countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines, Myanmar, Australia and the United Kingdom under one virtual roof. The month-long virtual event mirrors that of a physical expo, allowing homebuyers and investors to experience local and international properties and connect with property developers in real-time from the comforts of their homes.

With the Group’s proprietary property information and insights to guide property seekers, making an informed decision just got easier and a click away with the ‘Asia Virtual Property Expo’. Property seekers will be able to navigate the virtual booths under any of the five country or international pavilions and explore some of the best projects available, they will also be able to interact with participating developers and agents on-demand and walk through desired projects in real-time as well as avail exclusive deals. Visitors can also obtain the latest property trends, insights and hear from leading experts by attending as many as forty always-on webinars and live chats. PropertyGuru brings together market-leading offerings from PropertyGuru FastKey, to PropertyGuru Finance, and Asia Property Awards all under one digital roof, to deliver an engaging and immersive virtual experience for property seekers, agents and developers alike.

“We are excited to host the largest multi-country virtual property expo in Asia. COVID-19 has rapidly evolved the way consumers are exploring properties and many are increasingly using virtual tours and digital tools to continue transactions. Amidst these new trends, our expo brings the best projects and developers of the region to the fingertips of property seekers across Asia, without compromising their health and safety. Through the virtual expo, we hope to make property transactions borderless and offer all necessary services to buy a home, under one roof – from exploring projects with FastKey to funding homes with PropertyGuru Finance. This is a step further in our commitment and continued efforts to digitize the property industry as we empower consumers to ‘Find.Finance.Own’ their homes with us,” said Jeremy Williams, Chief Business Officer , PropertyGuru Group.

Industry-first property buying & selling resources under one digital roof:

At the Asia Virtual Property Expo, PropertyGuru brings together all its market-leading offerings along -side some of the best property projects available in the region:

Best projects of the region: Asia Virtual Property Expo will feature some of the best projects available in the region, from leading property developers including Tropicana Corporation Berhad, MRCB, Sunway in the Malaysia country pavilion; Sinarmasland, Intiland and Pondok Indah Group in the Indonesia country pavilion in partnership with Bank Negara Indonesia; Sim Lian Group Limited, Kajima Development Pte. Ltd. and Singapore Press Holdings Ltd., UOL Group in the Singapore country pavilion in partnership with ERA; Ten Thai Development Co. Ltd., The One Estate Development Co. Ltd. in the Thailand country pavilion; Ecopark Corporation Joint Stock Company, Van Phu-Invest Investment Joint Stock Company in the Vietnam country pavilion; Berkeley Group as the exclusive UK developer, Cambodia’s Meridian International Holding and Australia’s Fragrance Group all showcasing in the International Pavilion at the month-long, Asia Virtual Property Expo.

- PropertyGuru FastKey (end-to-end property sales enablement solution that connects property developers to agents and buyers) powers the virtual booths with vivid & immersive display of the projects, providing lead management to interested buyers, to marketing these projects via its Agent Marketplace to property agents across Southeast Asia
- PropertyGuru Finance, the Group’s mortgage marketplace will offer mortgage consultancy and services via a live chat function to Singapore buyers

While attendees discover their dream properties, they also stand a chance to win weekly lucky draw prizes, including an iPhone12, Samsung Galaxy Note 20, Samsung 43” 4K Smart TV, Brompton Bicycle, and the all new Sony PlayStation 5. Furthermore, PropertyGuru will be giving away GrabFood vouchers totalling up to SGD 16,400 for the first 2000 project enquiry forms filled.

To experience PropertyGuru Asia Virtual Property Expo, please visit AVPE.PropertyGuru.com

– END –

About PropertyGuru Group

Group is Southeast Asia’s leading property technology company and the preferred destination for 24.5 million property seekers to find their dream home, every month. PropertyGuru and its group companies empower property seekers with the widest option of more than 2.7 million homes, in-depth insights and solutions that enable them to make confident property decision across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

For more information, please visit www.PropertyGuruGroup.com ; https://www.linkedin.com/company/propertyguru

Media contacts:

Sheena Chopra
PropertyGuru
+65 9247 5651
[email protected]

PropertyGuru raises S$300M to accelerate growth in Southeast Asia

Long-standing shareholders TPG and KKR strengthen investment and confidence in the Group’s leadership, strategy and performance

SINGAPORE, 2 September 2020 – PropertyGuru Group (‘PropertyGuru’ or ‘the Group’), Southeast Asia’s leading property technology (“PropTech”) company, today announced that it has received an additional investment of S$300 million (approx.) [US$220 million] in recent funding rounds by leading global investment firms TPG and KKR (via KKR Asian Fund III).

This investment comes at an extraordinary time for PropertyGuru: With 24% y-o-y revenue growth, PropertyGuru beat 2019 forecasts and continues to lead in Southeast Asia with 57% market share* (4x nearest player). PropertyGuru is the PropTech leader across all five markets in the region with its No. 1 marketplaces: PropertyGuru in Singapore and Malaysia, Batdongsan.com.vn in Vietnam DDproperty.com in Thailand, and Rumah.com and RumahDijual.com in Indonesia. Over the past year, business momentum and financial performance has been very strong across multiple key markets.

The funding will accelerate PropertyGuru’s growth strategy across all key markets as the Group ramps up its investment to meet the rapidly evolving needs in the property ecosystem. The continued support of TPG (over the past five years) and KKR (over the past two years) will see PropertyGuru further invest in identified strategic areas of growth, including its mortgage offering launched this year- PropertyGuru Finance, an end-to-end sales enablement solution for property developers- PropertyGuru FastKey and data capabilities to empower property seekers across Southeast Asia to ‘Find.Finance.Own’ their homes.

Olivier Lim, Chairman of the Board, PropertyGuru Group, said, “Since its founding in 2007, PropertyGuru has secured its leadership by continuing to provide increasing value to all its customers and users. We have scaled rapidly across Southeast Asia by anticipating and addressing consumer needs with a data-driven strategy underpinned by a talented team of ‘Gurus’. This year, amidst the changing business realities, the demonstrable strength of our platforms has solidified our relative market leadership and provides new opportunities to accelerate both organic and inorganic growth with new investments. This increased support from TPG and KKR to accelerate growth is a great validation of the Group’s successful performance, its leadership team and their strategy to unlock the opportunities that will achieve the Group’s ambitions in the region.”

Hari V. Krishnan, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, PropertyGuru Group, said, “Our strong financial performance over the last few years has enabled us to invest aggressively and smartly, to build what is today an integrated and differentiated technology platform that caters to the unique opportunities in Southeast Asian markets.

The additional investments from TPG and KKR will enable us to continue building Southeast Asia’s property trust platform and accelerate our momentum in key markets like Malaysia and Vietnam. We help property seekers ‘Find.Finance.Own’ their home and these new investments will accelerate the growth plans we have identified as more consumers and customers move towards digital solutions for property buying and selling. Over the last thirteen years we helped create the PropTech industry in this region, and as the market leader we look forward to providing further innovations to digitize the property sector.”

Upgrades and new offerings so far in 2020

PropertyGuru’s belief in technology as a connector and solution to resolve home-seekers’ pain-points has seen it relentlessly invest and expand its service offerings in data and digital tools to improve transparency in the property ecosystem for consumers, developers, and agent partners across Southeast Asia.

This year, PropertyGuru expanded into home finance with the launch of a mortgage marketplace in Singapore, ‘PropertyGuru Finance’, as well as a major upgrade to the property seeker experience in Vietnam. The Group enhanced offerings to provide data-driven insights as well as additional sources of income for agent partners. For property developers, significant enhancements were made to PropertyGuru FastKey with the launch of PropertyGuru FastKey – StoryTeller– a digital product that allows 360-degree immersive walkthroughs of a project, its units and the surrounding cityscape, to showcase and explore properties with real-time availability, straight to the screens of property seekers who explore properties from the convenience and safety of homes. This solution enables property developers to start marketing their projects much earlier, even before constructing the sales gallery or show flat.

As behaviours adopted during the pandemic reshape consumer habits and preferences in a new normal, digital transformation is accelerated across sectors. Per the latest report by Bain & Company and Facebook, nearly 70% of Southeast Asians are expected to be digital consumers by the end of 2020. The dynamic landscape is thus revealing new growth opportunities in PropertyGuru’s existing markets to enhance and expand offerings to consumers, property agents and developers.

– END –

^*Market share Source: SimilarWeb data – Engagement market share, last six month average as at July 2020

About PropertyGuru Group

For more information, please visit www.PropertyGuruGroup.com ; https://www.linkedin.com/company/propertyguru

Media contacts:

Sheena Chopra
PropertyGuru
+65 9247 5651
[email protected]

Anushka Shrivastava / Jamie Tan
Archetype Singapore
+65 83678767 / +65 94880992
[email protected]

PropertyGuru explores Singapore’s property buying sentiment in the pandemic era

Reaching out to property seekers and investors across Southeast Asia

The pandemic has unsurprisingly tempered demand for real estate property in Southeast Asia.

In Singapore, the combination of lockdown measures and stay-at-home orders, referred to by the government as Circuit Breaker, resulted in only 486 new private homes (excluding executive condominiums) being sold in June 2020 —a 48.9% decline from the 952 units transacted in May 2019.

However, the long-term outlook for the region remains optimistic. This number is already a 75% increase compared to the 277 units sold in April 2020, to the surprise of many analysts.

While the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that the economies of Southeast Asia’s ASEAN-5 (Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand) will be in the doldrums until the end of the year due to the spread of the coronavirus, a sharp economic recovery of 7.8% is expected in 2021. This, in turn, is expected to bolster long-term interest in the region’s real estate markets, particularly among international investors.

In fact, searches for Thai real estate by Chinese buyers rose by 24% in February and March. A survey of real estate agents shows that now is a good time for foreign nationals to snatch up property in the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore as the lull in local demand is likely to encourage sellers to offer discounts and/or incentives to attract buyers. And in Singapore, demand for private residential properties has a history of rebounding quickly after a crisis.

Why foreign property buyers invest in Southeast Asia

There are a number of compelling factors that point to the draw of buying property in Southeast Asia.

For starters, the low investment threshold in certain Southeast Asian markets represents a quick path to high rental yield. It’s reported that cities like Bangkok, Phnom Penh, and Manila can generate a 5% average return on investment (ROI) in the local real estate market.

Demand for guaranteed returns is even higher in Phuket, where 90% of property buyers are reportedly foreigners from China, Singapore, and Hong Kong. In 2019, the city had 21 launches, 18 of which offered a guaranteed return to buyers.

Meanwhile, the launch of the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme helped to establish Malaysia as one of Southeast Asia’s top investor-friendly countries. Before the pandemic, Malaysia was predicted to see an increase in foreign property buyers after the government lowered the minimum price threshold for property sales down to 600,000 ringgit (US$145,000).

In Singapore, the city-state’s reputation of being one of the world’s most investor-friendly places has naturally made it a hub for foreign buyers looking for investment properties or second homes.

Source

Despite the restrictions on visitors entering the country being initiated in February, international buyers still purchased 48 homes in Singapore’s Core Central Region in March 2020. Admittedly, this was a 32% decrease from March 2019 but is nevertheless remarkable considering the country was in the middle of a crisis.

Barriers to entry for foreign property investors

Despite the relative ease of buying property in Southeast Asia, there are still a number of challenges facing both property developers and foreigners looking to invest in real estate.

Varying property laws and regulations

For instance, there is the issue of Southeast Asia’s diversity.

The region comprises 11 countries, each one with its own language, culture, and legal rules and regulations, all of which can create potential trust issues for unsure buyers. While the majority of Southeast Asian countries allow freehold ownership of dwelling and/or land, there can be major differences in the specifics of these property laws between each country.

For example, Malaysia allows foreigners to buy certain types of land on a freehold basis. In contrast, in Thailand, foreigners are explicitly prohibited from owning land.

Inability to view Sales Galleries

There’s also the problem of foreign buyers not being able to see the actual Sales Gallery. Depending on the developer and real estate agent, this gap can be filled with technologies such as video conferencing, in combination with tools such as interactive displays, videos, and virtual tours of units. More recently, we’ve seen a rise in virtual showflats due to pandemic restrictions.

Gaps in communication

Finally, there’s the obstacle of bridging the communication gaps between local real estate agents and overseas property developers, both within Southeast Asia and outside of it.

For agents, the primary challenge is communicating with potential overseas property buyers and maintaining a sales pipeline that goes beyond borders and time zones. Because of the many nuances and legal restrictions for foreign buyers between each Southeast Asian country, agents play a key role in acting as intermediaries, helping developers provide a selection of properties that align with a foreign buyer’s needs.

For developers in Southeast Asia, the challenge is finding ways to access the sales networks of agents based in other Southeast Asian countries and outside the region.

Developers and agents need to work closely to ensure potential buyers get the necessary information they need to make a purchase decision, whether it’s images of the property, project charts, floor plans, or project type details.

Enter FastKey Projects Marketplace

Preview of FastKey Projects Marketplace Walkthrough

These challenges are at the heart of FastKey Projects Marketplace, a new feature of PropertyGuru’s FastKey property sales platform designed to help property developers access cross-border opportunities. FastKey Projects Marketplace lets you leverage an online network of more than 50,000 real estate agents across Southeast Asia, giving your properties extensive exposure beyond borders.

With the project information from property developers, each FastKey Project will be listed in the FastKey Projects Marketplace to be displayed exclusively to agents, which covers:

Developer images and videos of the project, units, and amenities
Diagrams and charts of the project
Interactive Google Maps with points of interest near the project
Floor plans of individual units
Miscellaneous information about the project’s amenities and unit types
Information about the developer’s commission scheme

As a developer, FastKey Projects Marketplace allows you to gain extensive exposure for your projects by tapping into a network of local agents based in four regions: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. We’re also working on adding Vietnam to this list in the near future.

Developers looking to promote their listings can also sign up for FastKey Featured Projects to get preferred placement and position. Featured Projects appear with an Exclusive Highlights panel at the top of the FastKey Project tile, where agents can see your commission schemes, project images, logo, and contact information prominently.

PropertyGuru FastKey is designed to automate the full project sales cycle from launch to close of sale, helping developers leverage real-time data and unique insights to improve sales efficiency.

Contact us to know more about FastKey Projects Marketplace today and extend your project’s outreach across Southeast Asia!

PropertyGuru’s CPO on how to make remote working work

Real Estate virtual touring is on the rise

Covid-19 has forced a third of the world’s population to live under some sort of lockdown. Many brick-and-mortar businesses have little choice but to shut their doors indefinitely and transition their business online, if possible.

As an industry that thrives on face-to-face interactions, the real estate sector has been hit especially hard. For example, the Singapore government had earlier banned in-person property viewings “until further notice,” making it difficult for agents and property developers to continue operations and rack up sales. Throughout the Southeast Asia region, various governments have similar policies in response to Covid-19 transmissions.

Where retailers, food and beverage businesses have e-commerce and on-demand food delivery services, there are limited options for agents and property developers to keep business as usual in light of the new normal.

PropTech to the rescue

This is where PropTech comes in.

Property technology, or PropTech, refers to any technology within the real estate space. The goal is to optimise real estate functions through technology, whether via software or hardware inventions, and to transform the experience from the lens of the consumer.

PropTech has been gaining traction in the last few years, as evidenced by the amount of funding that has been poured into it. Global venture capital investment for PropTech stood at just US$186 million in 2011. But according to an EY and CREtech study, the PropTech sector has amassed US$75.2 billion in the last five years—with a third of that investment raised in the first quarter of 2019 alone.

(Source: INC)

By the end of 2019, the Investor Confidence Index for PropTech had comfortably reached 8.0/10, with 86% of investors consenting that PropTech companies were “performing above or meeting expectations in customer growth.”

This confidence in PropTech not only represents the segment’s overall investability, but it is also a testament to the collective belief in the transformative effects of PropTech on the real estate industry.

In Singapore and across Southeast Asia, there are many applications of PropTech. Some startups are using technology to disrupt property management, providing cloud computing and IoT solutions for property managers to automate daily tasks. Others are developing AI-powered robots and drones to aid in the construction process.

However, one PropTech solution that has become extremely popular is Immersive Reality.

Virtual touring is on the rise

Immersive reality is one of the most powerful tools within the real estate industry right now. It involves virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to give customers a rich visual experience that simulates the real world. It’s most obvious application is for 3D virtual tours.

The biggest benefit of virtual touring is that it’s convenient. According to a survey from the Real Estate in a Digital Age 2019 Report, 56% of respondents said that finding the right property was by far the most difficult step in buying a home, followed by paperwork (20%) and understanding the process (16%).

(Source: Real Estate in a Digital Age 2019)

It is difficult enough as it is to schedule property visits to a physical location, but with the sheer number of available properties in the market, it becomes confounding to even attempt to visit them all. Now, thanks to Covid-19, it is nearly impossible.

Immersive reality solutions solve this problem. Customers can go on 360-degree virtual tours and get a firsthand experience of the property without ever having to step out of their homes or go through tedious back-and-forths for scheduling the visit.

Not only does this save time and effort on the customer’s part, but it also gives property developers a platform to reach a wider audience—people from around the world are free to go on virtual tours and find prospective properties from the comfort and safety of their homes.

In line with these benefits, we recently announced StoryTeller, a new feature available within the PropertyGuru FastKey property sales platform.

FastKey is PropertyGuru’s cloud-based solution that automates full project sales cycles from launch to close. StoryTeller is its latest feature that allows property developers to “tell their story” through an immersive, 360-degree simulation of their actual properties and surrounding cityscapes.

Agents and property developers integrate Storyteller with the FastKey inventory management system to give viewers real-time information on specific units. In the graphic below, there are green dots overlaid on available units.

StoryTeller’s main strength is its ability to showcase properties in the fullest—everything from the project building, facilities, units, and surrounding cityscapes are accessible through the platform.

The realism of this experience highlights the importance of transparency. And as the experience is completely computer-generated, property developers can use “virtual staging” to show units in multiple furnishing styles—a value that cannot be delivered in a physical sales gallery.

Customers can be assured of the accuracy of the tour and experience both the potential pros and cons as they are 3D models based off property developer plans.

And because this gallery is entirely online, potential property buyers can view the property at any time of the day. Property developers also get access to important metrics including the number of views on their virtual tourist, and the most popular times for these viewings.

“We believe that these technological advancements will help position stakeholders at the forefront of the fast-evolving landscape and expectations – opening up a new world of possibilities for all,” a message from our PropertyGuru Group’s Managing Director of FastKey, Jason Gregory.

StoryTeller was in the works for quite some time now, but the sudden onset of the pandemic has made it necessary for us to expedite the developments and release StoryTeller even sooner than planned. But the new launch has already seen “spectacular interest” during a webinar launch attended by 750 property developers.

“FastKey is a step forward in our commitment to improve the property buying and selling experience as we leverage our constant investments in technology. Not only has FastKey brought unprecedented speed to the sales process for property developers – streamlining transactions has resulted in improved efficiency, higher cost savings, and enhanced customer satisfaction,” a message from our PropertyGuru Group’s Chief Business Officer, Jeremy Williams.

With the digitization of property sales becoming expedited because of the pandemic, we believe that the platform serves as a game changer for the property industry.

Interested to know more? Submit your enquiry now for more information!

PropertyGuru FastKey brings projects and units to buyer’s doorstep

SINGAPORE, 27 May 2020 – PropertyGuru Group, (“PropertyGuru” or the “Group”), Asia’s leading property technology company, today launched a new digital feature ‘StoryTeller’ into its market leading sales enablement platform ‘PropertyGuru FastKey’. FastKey digitises and automates the entire property sales process from project launch to close of sale and currently serves over 500 projects from 100 property developers in Southeast Asia.

PropertyGuru FastKey deepens its offering with the launch of ‘StoryTeller’ – a feature that creates fully digitised 360 degree immersive walkthroughs of a project, its units as well as the surrounding cityscape. It brings the project and show flat to the property buyer’s doorstep to view, select and even register interest for a unit based on their preference and as per real-time inventory availability in the project. The 360 immersive experience is rendered from the Developers project plans. With this feature, Fastkey will enable the property developers to go-to-market as soon as their project is approved, without having to wait for the construction of its sales gallery or show flat.

Social distancing measures implemented amid the pandemic have reshaped consumer behaviours – and with it, expectations around property buying and selling. With sales galleries now empty – and people still looking to explore properties amid a new normal – the time has come to evolve property discovery. Over the years, FastKey has converted the property sales process to a digital ecosystem that connects developers with property agents across geographies to launch their projects and provide data backed inventory management. The agents then bring these projects to the fingertips of the buyers to select and register interest for. The addition of StoryTeller thus unlocks new opportunities for property search and sales to continue digitally – in a safe and highly convenient way.

Unlocking A New World of Opportunities with FastKey

FastKey is a market-leading solution and the first of its scale. It will leverage PropertyGuru’s regional footprint across five Southeast Asian markets (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam) – including an agent marketplace with over 45,000 agents in SEA and 1 million in China.

With a deployment time of just five days, FastKey creates new sales opportunities for developers and agents. Project information and administrative tasks such as unit booking, paperwork generation and deposit collection are updated in real-time, allowing for cross-border transactions and multi-city launches where sales can be made simultaneously. Besides opening up a world of cross-selling opportunities to developers and agents, this first-of-its-kind visibility empowers all in the property ecosystem to make informed decisions, based on real-time data on available projects, inventory, or even sales leads and processes.

Jeremy Williams, Chief Business Officer, PropertyGuru Group said, “FastKey is a step forward in our commitment to improve the property buying and selling experience as we leverage our constant investments in technology. Not only has FastKey brought unprecedented speed to the sales process for property developers – streamlining transactions has resulted in improved efficiency, higher cost savings, and enhanced customer satisfaction. These benefits will definitely be game-changers for the property industry, as the digitisation of property sales becomes even more pressing in today’s context.”

Immersive Property Journey with the new ‘StoryTeller’ feature

Offered as an additional feature to FastKey customers, StoryTeller transforms any project at any stage of development or construction into a 3D space to create 360-degrees interactive walkthroughs of their projects, surrounding cityscapes and units for agents and consumers.

The feature will enable everyone to discover, explore and experience properties at anytime, from anywhere. Developers will have reduced dependency on physical galleries and agents can host viewings to close deals remotely. International buyers can gain access to an array of options at their fingertips and can evaluate them before visiting physical sales galleries. StoryTeller is powered by Foyr (a cloud based visualisation solutions company) for PropertyGuru FastKey.

Experience the FastKey StoryTeller virtual walkthrough here.

Speaking about the new technology advancement, Jason Gregory, Managing Director of FastKey, PropertyGuru Group said, “We’re excited to introduce StoryTeller integration into FastKey today, as virtual becomes the new normal. This will enhance the consumer experience by enabling immersive digital experiences and bring greater transparency and flexibility for all in the property ecosystem. We believe that these technological advancements will help position stakeholders at forefront of the fast-evolving landscape and expectations – opening up a new world of possibilities for all.”

With the VR-powered experience, property seekers can seamlessly move through the exteriors and interiors of projects, including detailed representation of the surroundings, facilities and street views. As such, they can compare various projects with different views and configurations at their convenience to make confident property decisions.

To find out more about FastKey, visit https://www.propertygurugroup.com/fastkey/

PropertyGuru beats 2019 forecast and delivers 24% revenue growth

The Group maintains its strong leadership position in Southeast Asia with 59% market share

SINGAPORE, 20 May 2020 – PropertyGuru Group (“PropertyGuru”, or the “Group”), Southeast Asia’s leading property technology (“PropTech”) company, today announces its results for the financial year ending 31 December 2019. The Group has beaten its forecast:

Group results

RESULTS

FY19 Actual^

(S$ in millions)

Growth%

FY19 vs FY18

FY19 Forecast^ (S$ in millions)

Variance to Forecast (%)

Revenue

88.4

+24%

85.6

+3%

EBITDA (post-stock compensation)

8.6

+64%

4.4

+97.5%

Financial highlights

Delivered 24% y-o-y revenue growth – fourth consecutive year of high growth despite tough real estate markets
Strong top line growth with Group revenue of S$88.4 million (FY18: S$71.5m)
64% increase y-o-y in EBITDA to S$8.6m (FY18: S$5.2m)
Group operating free cash flow of S$14.2 million

Operational highlights

Group continues to be the clear market leader in Southeast Asia with 59% market share^*(4x nearest player)
- Lead in Singapore with 75% and Vietnam with 69% market share^*
Continued investment and progress against growth strategy:
- Launched mortgage marketplace in Singapore – PropertyGuru Finance
- Platform refresh in Vietnam – Batdongsan.com.vn
- Deepened offerings with PropertyGuru FastKey, end-to-end sales enablement solution for property developers
>80% organic traffic^#
>2.7 million monthly real estate listings
>45,000 active agents
>24.5 million monthly property seekers^#

Hari V. Krishnan, CEO & Managing Director, PropertyGuru Group said, “I am delighted to report these results for the Group. 2019 was our fourth straight year of strong business performance. As anticipated, we have seen strong top line growth across all our key markets and delivered further improved EBITDA and operating cashflow. Our unit economics look solid, execution was robust, and our strategy for the future is ambitious.

We are in the business to help property seekers ‘Find.Finance.Own’ their home. We have started 2020 with the launch of our mortgage marketplace in Singapore, PropertyGuru Finance and given a major upgrade to the property seeker experience in Vietnam.

We have enhanced our offerings to provide data-driven insights as well as additional sources of income for our Agent partners. For property developers we have made significant enhancements to PropertyGuru FastKey. Today, with FastKey we bring fully immersive views and walkthroughs of apartments and entire projects, set within cityscapes, with the ability to show real-time availability, straight to the screens of property seekers who are home-bound given Covid-19. Our solution enables the property developers to start marketing their projects much earlier, even before constructing the sales gallery or show flat.

Our leadership team is unparalleled in experience and pedigree in the region. Our strong financial position has enabled us to invest aggressively and smartly, to build what is today an integrated and differentiated technology platform that caters to the unique opportunities in Southeast Asian markets. We are positioned for strong sustained growth when we all emerge from this challenging Covid-19 crisis.”

Performance review

PropertyGuru achieved robust operational growth in the year, across its core markets. The Group achieved strong revenue growth, up 24% y-o-y across the Group underpinned by solid growth in KPIs and focused cost control.

The Group remains the #1 online real estate marketplace in with 59% market share*, significantly more share than that of the next player in Southeast Asia. In Singapore, the Group leads with 75% market share* and in Vietnam with 69% market share*. We continue to find ways to leverage our expanding agent network in Southeast Asia and China. During the year, we further developed our powerful cloud solution, PropertyGuru FastKey, designed to automate and streamline the entire property sales process from launch to close of sale. Currently, PropertyGuru FastKey serves over 500 developer projects in the region.

Technology

Technology underpins the service offering of PropertyGuru. As a data and technology driven Group, we continue to invest heavily in our platform to provide market leading features and functionality. Over the past three years, we’ve invested more than 170,000 development hours via our dedicated R&D staff.

Our mobile platform was a market-first and has driven user engagement. Today, PropertyGuru apps. have over 5.7 million downloads, with 74% of our customers now accessing our platform from a mobile device.

Our latest introduction to the market is PropertyGuru FastKey ‘StoryTeller’ – a new digital feature that fully digitizes an entire project with its surrounding cityscape as well as the apartments into 360 degree rich immersive experience before any construction begins. This feature brings the apartments and entire projects to the property buyer’s doorstep to select and view units based on their preference and as per real-time inventory availability in the project. Buyers can also reserve interest in a unit through their property agent. Property developers can start marketing their project early, as StoryTeller converts their project plan into 360 degree immersive experience. Checkout projects and apartments in 360 degree rich immersive experience walkthrough with PropertyGuru FastKey StoryTeller here

Support to our communities during Covid-19

During this crisis, our home and our community matters the most. We are actively monitoring our communities across Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, making sure we follow public health authority recommendations and enabling local housing markets to adapt to these evolving conditions.

Protecting our customers: Lockdowns and travel bans triggered homelessness in the short-term for many in Southeast Asia. We are canvassing support to help people whose lives have been disrupted with #LendASpace and #NeedASpace in each of our markets.

PropertyGuru has introduced dedicated content hubs with our evidence-based insights so homeowners and home seekers can confidently navigate the property market in these rapidly evolving times – Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

Standing By Our Partners: To help our agent, developer and financial institution partners tide through this period, we have rolled out a raft of support measures such as reducing prices, providing validity extensions on products, launching innovative tech to help them bring the property viewing experience right to a home seeker’s fingertips, introducing added income streams, as well as providing free access to critical resources.

^{^}Pro forma
^*Market share Source: SimilarWeb data – Engagement market share, last six month average as at 31 December 2019
^#Source: Google Analytics. Average for 6 months ending Dec 2019

About PropertyGuru Group

PropertyGuru Group is Southeast Asia’s leading property technology company and the preferred destination for 24.5 million property seekers to find their dream home, every month. PropertyGuru and its group companies empower property seekers with the widest option of more than 2.7 million homes, in-depth insights and solutions that enable them to make confident property decision across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

PropertyGuru.com.sg was launched in 2007 and revolutionised the Singapore property market by taking it online and made property search transparent for the property seeker. Over the decade, the group has grown from a regional property media powerhouse to a high-growth technology company with a robust portfolio of No.1 property portals across its core markets; award-winning mobile apps; best-in-class developer sales enablement platform, FastKey; and a host of industry-leading property offerings including Awards, events and publications across Asia.

For more information, please visit www.PropertyGuruGroup.com ; https://www.linkedin.com/company/propertyguru

Media contacts:

Sheena Chopra

PropertyGuru

M: +65 92475651

[email protected]

Disclaimer: This document is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer or an invitation to induce an offer by any person to acquire, purchase or subscribe for securities of PropertyGuru Pte. Ltd. in any jurisdiction.

PropertyGuru Expands into Home Finance with the Launch of its Mortgage Marketplace ‘PropertyGuru Finance’

Latest venture will help Singaporeans save money on their home loans for the long term and simplify their home buying journey

L to R: Alexander Zonneveld (Head Fintech Product and Partnerships), Hari V Krishnan (CEO & Managing Director), Bjorn Sprengers (Chief Marketing Officer & Head of Fintech), Paul Wee (Managing Director, Fintech)

SINGAPORE, 12 March 2020 – PropertyGuru, Singapore’s number one property technology company with over 75% market share*, today announced its expansion into home finance. With the launch of its mortgage marketplace, ‘PropertyGuru Finance’, PropertyGuru aims to help Singaporeans save money and experience a smoother journey in financing their home. PropertyGuru Finance will offer the best mortgage rates, digital tools that will help property buyers make smart financing decisions, and independent, personalised advisory for better long-term benefits.

While Singapore is one of the most property savvy markets in Southeast Asia, the ‘PropertyGuru Consumer Sentiment Study H1 2020’ highlights that while 70 percent of Singaporeans will ‘start saving before looking for a home to buy’, only 18 percent are ‘very familiar with the home loan process’. The complexity of the mortgage process is further reflected in the knowledge gaps revealed in the study:

Almost 50% of home buyers are not familiar with the paperwork that is required to apply for a home loan
2 in 5 Singaporeans are not aware that they can refinance their home loan and save on monthly costs, more so among lower income groups
30% of home buyers believe that online tools such as an Affordability Calculator would assist, but admit that they have never actually used one.

Announcing the launch, Bjorn Sprengers, Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Fintech, said, “Over the years, we have learnt that the excitement of finding one’s dream home, is often lost when it comes to financing it. The mortgage journey is full of uncertainty, doubt and inefficiency. More often than not, the process leads people to paying more than they should. Its complexity may even cost them the opportunity to own their dream home. As market leaders, we have a responsibility to help resolve these pain-points and much like PropertyGuru helped Singaporeans find their homes online, we now use technology to improve the process of how people will finance their homes.’’

PropertyGuru’s entry into home finance is a key milestone in the company’s strategic evolution from a property marketplace to becoming a ‘trust platform’ in Southeast Asia. Bjorn Sprengers adds, “The launch of the mortgage marketplace takes the company beyond its focus of ‘property search’ into ‘Find.Finance.Own’. Our vision is to integrate property search and financing into a seamless digitally intuitive experience for property seekers. This vision encompasses PropertyGuru’s own platform and solutions as well as the broader ecosystem including banks, regulators and other stakeholders. Our aspiration is to enable Singapore’s first digital straight-through mortgage application by 2022 and the first fully digital property transaction by 2025.’’

Working with relevant industry stakeholders, the company will offer digital home financing services such as instant in-principle approval, instant offers, refinance checks, to enable property buyers to consume home financing services conveniently, securely and instantly online.

As Singapore’s preferred property marketplace for over thirteen years, PropertyGuru is uniquely positioned to help home loan seekers save money. Paul Wee, Managing Director of Fintech, explains, “As Singapore’s largest property marketplace, we have access to the best rates offered by banks. Because we are independent from these financial institutions, we can offer unbiased, personalised, in-person advice during and after office opening hours. Our loan advisors collectively have more than 100 years of experience.’’

He adds, “PropertyGuru’s technology allows us to uniquely offer a range of smart tools for every step of the home finance journey, from understanding loan eligibility and comparing loans to easily applying for multiple loans online. We use PropertyGuru’s proprietary data to constantly monitor home valuations and interest rates to help property owners optimally time moments of refinance and enjoy full benefit from capital gains.’’

With PropertyGuru Finance, the company extends its partnership with its clients (real estate agents). PropertyGuru will act as an agent’s ‘personal mortgage assistant’ enabling them to offer their clients (property seekers) convenient access to all best available properties and home finance options under a single roof.

*Source: SimilarWeb, Consumer Market Share, August 2019 – Jan 2020

About PropertyGuru Group

PropertyGuru Group is Asia’s leading property technology company and the preferred destination for over 20 million property seekers to find their dream home, every month. PropertyGuru and its group companies empower property seekers with the widest option of more than 2 million homes, in-depth insights and solutions that enable them to make confident property decision across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

PropertyGuru.com.sg was launched in 2007 and revolutionised the Singapore property market by taking it online and made property search transparent for the property seeker. Over the decade, the Group has grown from a regional property media powerhouse to a high-growth technology company with a robust portfolio of No.1 property portals across its core markets; award-winning mobile apps; best-in-class developer sales enablement platform, FastKey; and a host of industry-leading property offerings including Awards, events and publications across Asia.

For more information, please visit www.PropertyGuruGroup.com ; https://www.linkedin.com/company/propertyguru

For further queries or media interviews, please contact:

Archetype Singapore
Anushka Shrivastava / Jamie Tan
+65 6603 9000
[email protected]

PropertyGuru Group
Sheena Chopra
+65 9247 5651
[email protected]