Boom in real estate as business goes online
The days of turning the pages of a newspaper or magazine looking for a house, apartment or land for rent or lease are fast fading away with online real estate business tapping the market. Lamudi.lk being a new player in advertising only real estate properties online has reached many goals since its inception in May 2014.
On the sidelines of a recent media briefing in Colombo, the company’s Managing Director Hugh Van Der Kolf told the Business Times that, “real estate is a booming business in Sri Lanka. With many high end residencies to be built in the coming years the demand for properties will increase.”
Lamudi’s ‘Dial 4 Home’ provides a unique service whereas other websites rent or sell properties online but together with other products and services. Not many websites focus only on real estate “Our target” audiences are the ones looking only for real estate, added Mr. Van Der Kolf.
Anyone can advertise free on the website. If an agent or a property developer wants to advertise huge banners of many properties or if an individual alone advertises for more than six months, a service charge will be added to them. Since May 2014 the website has reached close to 5000 visitors per day and 140,000 visitors per month, he said.
Sri Lankans are switching online to make the most of web-based services, including tools for finding property to buy or rent. Thousands of Sri Lankans have access to Internet and the number of users is growing at an estimated annual rate of 9 per cent. There are still many Sri Lankans who have yet to incorporate the Internet into their daily lives. This means a large number of people still use traditional methods when searching for real estate.
Most of those aged above 35 with a superior spending power, browse through real estate classifieds or supplements, call brokers or agents, or talk to their friends and family to find their ideal house, apartment or commercial space. Many prefer to make a quick phone call rather than searching online and sending an email.
House-hunters can explain their requirements such as property type, size, location, price and Lamudi’s customer care staff will cross reference these with the platform’s 13,000 property listings in Sri Lanka. The caller will then receive an SMS with contact details of the property sellers or agents.
This service will put offline house-hunters in touch with a broad selection of property listings from the Lamudi website. The service was designed to simplify property search by allowing house-hunters to use a single platform to find their ideal home.