By Richmond S. Mercurio (The
Philippine Star) | Updated October 15, 2014 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - Online property
portal Lamudi has reported robust growth in its business a year after starting
operations, with the Philippine market becoming one of the key drivers in its
rapid development.
Lamudi said the number of listings on
its website, which is present across 28 countries around the world, now totals
more than 670,000 properties to buy or rent.
The listings, it said, grew by 116
percent between April and September this year.
The online real estate listing site
said more than half of the property listings from across the Lamudi network
come from its Asian websites, namely Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the
Philippines, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
The company is now the leading
property portal in Bangladesh and the Philippines after investing $7 million in
April to grow its operations in Asia.
“As competition over the online property space
within the emerging markets has intensified, Lamudi has maintained a leading
position within key regions, particularly Asia,” it said.
In the Philipines alone, Lamudi said
it currently has over a thousand brokers and developers on board and a growing
number of over 80, 000 unique listings online.
The company has established three
offices in NCR, Cebu and Davao since starting with a small office table in
Makati.
“Our goal from the very beginning has
been to deliver a high-quality property portal in markets where searching for
real estate online is a relatively new phenomenon,” said Kian Moini, Lamudi
global co-founder and managing director.
Lamudi was founded in October 2013 by
German startup incubator Rocket Internet. The property platform was launched in
16 countries one year ago and has since grown to cover 28 countries across
Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.
“House-hunters in these regions should not be
underestimated; as the internet becomes more widespread, they are seeking out
the same services that are already commonplace in more established markets,”
Moini said.
“It is for this reason that we believe our
product has resonated so strongly with property seekers around the world.
Lamudi is innovative because we tackle markets that other property portals have
so far ignored. We expect Lamudi’s growth spurt to continue for the remainder
of 2014, and beyond,” Moini added.
_________________________________________________________
