Breaking Property News – 06/11/2023
Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.
4Sale – Kuwait’s classifieds platform launches online Real Estate Brokerage ‘4Sale Realty’
Premium digital experience is looking to shake up Kuwait’s $12 billion real estate market, offering commercial and residential property for anyone to buy, rent, and sell effortlessly in Kuwait
PRESS RELEASE Kuwait City, 6 November 2023 – 4Sale, Kuwait’s largest online classifieds platform, announces the launch of its new real estate experience, 4Sale Realty. Aiming to shake up Kuwait’s property market and revolutionise the buying, renting and selling experience in Kuwait. The immersive digital experience employs interactive 3D tours of listed properties for users to explore and an accurate measurement tool that allows users to see granular dimensions for each property.
4Sale Realty’s dedicated real estate agents manage property listings end-to-end, from curating listing details and 3D tours to prospecting potential tenants or buyers and broking the deal. Combining on-the-ground property expertise with a bespoke technology solution, it aims to be the most engaging and interactive real estate experience in Kuwait. Kuwait’s economy is set for solid growth in 2024 with GDP estimated to increase by c. 2.5%. The real estate sector in particular is expected to accelerate driven by increased demand for property from Kuwait’s youthful population.
Tarek Sakr, Chief Executive Officer of 4Sale, said:
“4Sale never sits still, and we are delighted to launch 4Sale Realty to our customers in Kuwait. Housing demand is projected to rise continuously, and the sector is ripe for technological disruption. We have developed a digital real estate experience to transform the process of buying, selling and renting property in Kuwait. Part of 4Sale’s rapid growth is driven by a deeper expansion into key verticals – such as real estate where we already had a strong market position – and I am very excited for consumers to experience it.”
4Sale Realty is the newest addition to 4Sale’s online marketplace and takes its real estate offerings to a new level. Pre-launch, 4Sale was already a significant player in Kuwait real estate, with its 2022 activity including hosting over 60,000 property listings across Kuwait. As a country, Kuwait continues to invest in technology and most recently announced its strategic vision to digitize government services, host national data securely and establish a national digital skills program. The solution devised by 4Sale Realty complements these national policies and will create the foundation of a digital, modern, and well-functioning real estate market.
For those unfamiliar with 4Sale, it is Kuwait’s largest online classifieds platform – a platform where people come together to buy and sell goods and services. The easy-to-use platform is hugely popular; connecting one-million active users a month. Since inception, the Company has helped over two-million registered users list 12-million items and services. With a headcount of over 100 people, 4Sale hosts 4,000 new listings every day, and that number is growing.
How Ai can find the ideal home for every Aussie
Industry experts say buyers and renters who don’t utilise #artificial intelligence (Ai) in their property searches could be missing multiple prime opportunities. Troy Rushton, founder of Realty Media Group (RMG) states that, ‘Buyers looking for their ideal home or investment are simply unaware of some exceptional listings because they are not using the modern-day advantage of Ai in their property hunt.’
Troy also feels that “Ai has advanced at a rapid pace, with the technology completing tasks from composing songs through to creating artwork and providing personal advice. With the right analysis in place, machine learning can now also assist homebuyers, investors and even renters in their quest to identify the best property to fulfil their needs.”
Mr Rushton said fulfilling this need was the motivation behind their platform, Realty.com.au. RMG’s Ai powered Discovery Search (patent pending) is currently in beta but will eventually be rolled out as a key part of the consumer offering on the company’s portal.
He adds, ‘We have developed a holistic distribution platform for agents that will allow buyers to ‘discover’ properties based on what’s really important to them. Our Discovery Search (patent pending) allows users to search faster and more efficiently than traditional suburb searches currently available on major portals. We use Ai technology to match properties to consumers and deliver them a bespoke list of housing that’s ideal for their needs.’
Mr Rushton said the key features of Realty.com.au’s Discovery Ai Search technology include: Personalised Lifestyle Matching: Ai algorithms understand your lifestyle preferences, from proximity to schools and public transport to nearby recreational facilities and shopping options. Real-Time Updates: Stay in the know about new properties that match your evolving lifestyle and priorities.
Together with: Effortless User Experience: A user-friendly interface ensures that finding your dream home is easy and stress-free. Comprehensive Data: Realty’s Discovery Ai search has access to comprehensive property information, neighbourhood insights, and more to help guide the user experience and make informed decisions.
“Our Ai uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) and continues to learn based on user interactions, so it gets more intelligent and makes a stronger connection with the user the more it is used. Our mission is to simplify and enhance property marketing using predictive technology based on user interactions in order to present the most relevant properties,” said Mr Rushton.
RMG Director Kevin Turner said, ‘This is another market-first move that sets us apart and fulfils our long-held promise to connect property and consumers differently, we are excited to introduce our proprietary Ai technology, a game-changer in the real estate world.’
‘Homebuyers and investors can now experience a whole new way of searching for properties, tailored to their unique lifestyles and preferences. Realty.com.au is committed to leading the industry, making property search more intuitive, intelligent, and enjoyable. The platform boasts the industry’s widest distribution capabilities through its network of 1006 geo-located pages with over 450,000 followers.’
‘We want to make the property search experience as seamless and personalised as possible. With this new technology, we are taking a giant leap toward that goal.’
The need for this next move in the real-estate sector was highlighted in recent comments by the ex CEO of the REA Group (realestate.com.au), Simon Baker. Mr Baker told RealtyUNCUT podcast host Daniel Streek in a recent episode:
“We have to move from matching to discovery. Now this is where Ai starts to step in, because traditionally it’s been reliant on me as the searcher to really guide the process. That’s really then limited by what I know. If I don’t know what I don’t know, I’ll never find it. So then the role of an Ai driven search engine is to say well, what’s really important to you – ‘Tell me where I could live’. Try doing that today on REA or try doing that today on Domain. You can’t, right . So that’s the next evolution. That (Ai search) then starts to bring in more characteristics about what’s important to you ” Baker concluded.
Realty Media Group, owns and operates the listing portal Realty.com.au. RMG was the first to introduce social delivery of all properties for sale and rent in Australia with extensive distribution capabilities through their own network of 1006 geo-located pages with over 450,000 followers. The group has also automated social ad compilation for agents with its AgentAds.io platform which is estimated to deliver a substantial time saving on each listing. RMG’s introduction of Ai powered Discovery Search (patent pending) marks another ‘first to market’ milestone for the group.
Andrew Stanton Executive Editor – moving property and proptech forward. PropTech-X
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