UAE’s Property Finder goes live with real-time viewings

UAE property portal Property Finder launched Live Viewings, as part of a set of initiatives undertaken by the company to facilitate agents and consumers.

Live Viewings, which will enable property seekers to stream property viewings, query and leave real-time comments for agents broadcasting the properties, comes under its “House Hunt from Home” initiative created to follow distancing protocols in light of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Live Viewings can be scheduled directly from a listing on the Property Finder website, and joins other innovative products such as 360 Tours, Virtual Tours, Floor Plans and social media tours to help make house hunting a digital reality.

“As we lead the disruption in Proptech, we are giving thousands of UAE agents the ability to schedule and broadcast live viewings to property seekers within the region and across the globe. The world has changed and we at Property Finder are making sure ourselves and our partners are ahead of the game so people in our region benefit from the latest technologies,” said Ari Kesisoglu, president of the Property Finder Group.

Rose Marsh, lead product manager on the project added: “While we believe there is still a strong place for in-person viewings, we see virtual viewings, facilitated by our expert agents, playing a greater role in the property-search journey going forward.”

She added: ”This is an innovation that will resonate with property seekers dealing with moving houses right now and also with house hunters and international investors post Covid-19.”

Live Viewings combines Property Finder’s own technology platforms with YouTube Live to introduce live streaming to the UAE real estate market.

Virtual tours are instrumental in the off plan market, as well in terms of international investment. Those investors that are accustomed to purchasing without physically viewing the property will also be able to virtually view a property live in real time.

Likened to other industries, the real estate sector has also taken a beating in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak. The drop in real estate transactions in recent weeks was also – among other factors – due to the lack of technology that enables virtual viewing of a property. Dubai registered a total of 3,098 sales transactions in March and 1,300 in April 2020.

Lynnette Abad, director of Research and Data added: “The Property Finder portal has seen an increase of 7.76 per cent in total number of weekly sessions and an 8.77 per cent increase in leads since the launch of these new technologies on our website. As people are spending more time at home, they are searching for their next move, whether it’s a rental or property to buy.”