realestate.com.au Re-Launch Mobile Platform

realestate.com.au has launched a new mobile version of its website which will allow consumers to search for property on their mobile phone handset.

It’s not the company’s first foray into the mobile world. In 2003 realestate.com.au dipped its toes into the mobile internet market with i-mode.realestate.com.au (which still seems to be live).

So the new mobile website, m.realestate.com.au, can be seen more as a re-launch of the leading Australian portal’s mobile platform.

m.realestate.com.au is a better looking version of the old i-mode.realestate.com.au, with a slicker expandable menu on the homepage which springs off into a more seamless search selection process.

m.realestate.com.au is currently available in beta, and realestate.com.au is encouraging users to provide feedback while the site undergoes usability testing.

The company describes it as “an extension of Australia’s biggest property website realestate.com.au and features social networking enhancements so consumers can share their favourite short-listed properties with family and friends via an email and or on MySpace”.

Quoting research from Paul Budde Communication Pty Ltd, realestate.com.au says there are in excess of 20 million mobile handsets in Australia (out of a country with a population with 21.5 million), which equates to almost 100 per cent saturation. It also claims that the majority of these mobiles are Internet enabled.

CEO of realestate.com.au Greg Ellis, was quoted in a press release from the company as saying that while the launch of m.realestate.com.au is one of many emerging technologies the company is currently working on, it represents a huge growth market in terms of connecting with potential users:

“realestate.com.au has identified that property seekers interested in using this type of technology have already done the majority of their research online and are in the advanced stages of the purchasing cycle. We are living in an upwardly mobile world where people are driven by information, so we need to find better ways of connecting with property seekers.”

Greg continued: “People most likely to use m.realestate.com.au are prospective buyers who know what they want, what they can afford, are actively attending open for inspections and are at the short-listing stage of property investment”.

The website works best on iPhones and Blackberrys but is available on all mobiles with Internet access. The company says the better the handset, the faster the connection and the better the experience will be.

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