We'll start with an acquisition in Germany...

Investments: Scout24 snaps up commercial real estate specialist Bulwiengesa

German real estate marketplace leader Scout24 has continued its acquisition strategy with the capture of commercial real estate data and valuation provider Bulwiengesa AG for an undisclosed sum.

Scout24 said it will integrate Bulwiengesa’s products to offer its customers “increased market transparency, innovative data-driven products and more convenient decision-making tools.”

Bulwiengesa CEO Ralf Koschny will join a supervisory board and COO Sven Carstensen will replace Koschny as CEO.

Tobias Hartmann, CEO at Scout24, said:

"Bulwiengesa’s leading data services complement our product range and are fully in line with our strategy to become the leading provider of real estate information in Germany. Together, we will be able to enhance market transparency, advance real estate transaction digitization and offer our commercial customers unique services to navigate the increasingly complex property market more confidently."

The acquisition follows swiftly on the heels of the newbuild marketplace NeuBau Kompass AG, also announced in December 2024.

Scout24, which operates the leading real state portal Immobilienscout24.de, recorded annual revenue growth of 8.5% in its latest financial statement in October.

Meanwhile, Tobias Hartmann has announced he will leave Scout24 in 2025, with a replacement CEO already lined up.

Products and Services: LeBonCoin launches new AI features and confirms PayPal integration

French horizontal portal LeBonCoin has launched a suite of AI features including visual search, the auto-completion of listings and interface personalization.

LeBonCoin will now show a personalised homepage with suggested goods and ads based on their bookmarked items and browsing history.

The image search option, available on LeBonCoin's app, looks for products and listings that match a user’s photograph of a particular object and then generates recommendations from its consumer goods segment.

LeBonCoin will also use AI to auto-complete item descriptions using just a title and an image. The AI leverages will then generate a full description of the item, suggest a suitable selling price, and even recommend the most suitable delivery option for the item.

Finally, LeBonCoin will fully integrate PayPal payments in 2025. Users will also gain the option to make payments in instalments.

UK-based SearchSmartly launches full Computer Vision API

SearchSmartly, a property search specialist for London, has launched Computer Vision API that lets portals process property listing imagery to generate tags and image descriptions.

The tool can detect property attributes (such as furnished/unfurnished), objects (tables, fireplaces) and rooms (kitchen/garden).

SearchSmartly has reported that use cases from partners have been varied, from powering additional search filters for seekers (“wooden floors” or “swimming pools”) to reordering imagery around seekers’ specific preferences.

An emerging use case is portals building their own AI muscle internally, by looking to build internal datasets that can be used for model training and output generation.

Simon Mohacek, Chief Growth Officer at SearchSmartly, said:

"It’s really exciting to see our Computer Vision technology start to integrate into portals around the world. Portal adoption of AI is about so much more than just LLMs, and using CV processing to help power seeker property discovery is a perfect example of how so much of this AI revolution is happening behind the scenes."

SearchSmartly also has a UK portal that showcases their technology, allowing would-be buyers and tenants searching for homes in London to embark on a more comprehensive property search experience, including searching by lifestyle, travel times, the proximity of green spaces, particularly for 'hidden gem' properties that may not be as prominently advertised on portals like Rightmove and Zoopla.

SearchSmartly is backed by investors including Blue Lake VC, REACH UK, and Syndicate Room.

Traffic and Findings: Emlakjet reveals 1.8 million ads published in 2024

Turkish real estate portal Emlakjet says it listed 1.8 million property advertisements this year.

Other numbers revealed by the marketplace operator included listing more than 40,000 real estate consultants in 2024, and directing 2,500 investors to new development projects.

In a press release, Tolga İdikat, CEO at Emlakjet, commented:

"2024 was not only a year of growth and success for Emlakjet, but also a year in which strategic steps were taken to support the transformation of the sector. With technological innovations, customer-oriented services and innovative solutions we developed for the sector, we both achieved a rapid transformation in the real estate market and deepened our contributions to the sector.

"This year, the opportunities we provided for real estate agents and the two-fold growth we experienced in our mobile application gave great momentum to the digitalization movement in the sector. In addition, more than 40 thousand real estate consultants and 1.8 million advertisements were published on our platform, and we directed nearly 2500 investors to the right projects.

"We established stronger collaborations with the branded projects we offered to real estate agencies, and brought investors together with the right projects. We increased knowledge sharing and shaped expectations about the sector by coming together with professionals in the sector through training and panels. In addition, we switched to a performance-based real estate agent-friendly package structure, which is a first in the sector. With this innovative model, we increased our customer base by 50%.

"We have high expectations for 2025. As Emlakjet, we are determined to shape the real estate dynamics of not only today but also the future and to carry the sector further."

Dubizzle passes 400,000 verified users

Dubizzle has revealed an 86% year-on-year increase to over 400,000 verified users signed up to its marketplace offering.

Dubizzle says it added verified accounts to create a trustable, secure environment for its users.

The deal, completed on Friday, will see the Group delisted from the New York Stock Exchange after EQT paid $6.70 for every share in the business.

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Singapore, PropertyGuru is Southeast Asia’s leading property technology platform, connecting over 31 million property seekers with more than 50,000 agents across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam each month.

The Group went public two years ago with shares reaching a high of $9 shortly after debuting on the market in March 2022.

But share prices stalled and settled at between $4-5 for the majority of its life as a public company.

Share prices dipped to historic lows in 2024, with EQT submitting a $1.1 billion takeover bid for PropertyGuru in August 2024.

At the time, the offer represented a 52% premium to PropertyGuru’s closing share price on May 21, 2024—the last unaffected trading day prior to media speculation regarding a potential takeover.

The bid was approved in August and rubberstamped by shareholders in October.

"We are pleased to announce the successful completion of this transaction and we welcome EQT to PropertyGuru. Over the past seventeen years, our growth has been enabled by strong partnerships with our shareholders, led by TPG and KKR. On behalf of everyone at PropertyGuru, I want to thank them for their support and I am proud that we have delivered a solid financial exit for our long-term investors.

"On behalf of our group leadership team, I thank our Gurus for their hard work and the wonderful business we have built together, and our customers and partners for their continued trust and partnership. EQT shares our commitment to our continued sustainable growth, and we look forward to working with them towards our Group’s vision to power, communities to live, work and thrive in tomorrow’s cities."

EQT, itself publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange, will be tasked with making PropertyGuru profitable. The Group's latest financial filing, for Q2 2024, showed widening net losses ahead of its privatisation, with shares ceasing trading on Friday.

Healthy revenue growth at PropertyGuru has historically been driven primarily by its clear market leadership in its native Singapore, where revenues have risen steadily quarter-on-quarter since 2023.

But the Group has struggled to scale in other segments and markets, and full-year revenue growth slowed considerably in 2023:

EQT [will] harness its deep expertise in scaling digital marketplace and classifieds businesses to drive technology innovation, operational excellence, and market expansion

[The acquisition] sets the stage for PropertyGuru to capitalize on urbanization, middle-class growth, and digitalization trends across the region’s dynamic real estate markets.

"PropertyGuru has redefined the property technology landscape in Southeast Asia, standing out for its innovation and leadership in delivering solutions that empower millions across the region. Drawing on EQT's expertise in technology-driven businesses, with a strong focus on marketplace and classifieds platforms, we look forward to supporting PropertyGuru in exploring new opportunities, enhancing its offerings, and driving its next phase of growth while contributing to the evolution of the property market in Southeast Asia."

"In March 2022 PropertyGuru listed on the New York Stock Exchange via the Bridgetown 2 SPAC. The initial valuation was USD 1.8 billion. Two years later, in March this year, the market cap had dropped by 70 percent to around USD 500m making PropertyGuru a very attractive target for PE firms.

"The sale of PropertyGuru for USD 1.1 billion, while a 40 percent discount on its listing valuation, is probably a fair price given the performance of the business as it represents 7 times revenue.

"Taking the business private will allow EQT to revamp operations, cut costs where needed, focus growth on where there is real value (e.g. not Indonesia), and execute all of this outside the gaze of the public market. Can EQT build a SE Asian business that has a valuation of USD 2 billion or more over the next 3-5 years to justify its purchase price? This will be an easy challenge."

Europe: Scout24 CEO to step down, successor already appointed

Tobias Hartmann will leave his position as CEO at Scout24 in March due to personal reasons, and his successor has already been appointed.

Scout24's current Chief Product & Technology Officer, Ralf Weitz, will take over from Hartmann for a period of five years, starting 1 March 2025.

Hans-Holger Albrecht, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, said in a press release:

"The Supervisory Board is looking forward to continuing the close and trustful collaboration with Ralf Weitz. He will assume the CEO role from Tobias Hartmann on 1 March 2025, in addition to his role as Chief Product & Technology Officer. Due to his many years of experience and impressive track record within the company as well his product management expertise, Ralf Weitz has everything it takes to further drive the successful strategy and growth of Scout24 SE.

"Tobias Hartmann has led and developed the company with great success since November 2018. During his tenure, the Group's revenues, profitability and growth have increased remarkably. As a result, the company has delivered exceptional results and created excellent value for its shareholders. Under his leadership, the Scout24 Group has been focused on the real estate business. Tobias also completed successfully several strategic acquisitions to strengthen the company’s market position. We regret his departure but respect his decision not to extend his contract for personal reasons after two successful terms."

Tobias Hartmann said:

"Scout24 SE is a very special company. It has been an extraordinary honor and pleasure to steer and manage the company over the last few years together with such a strong and committed team."

Scout's most recent financial filing was made in October—the Q3 2024 statement announced typically strong performance.

Meanwhile, Scout24 hired a new specialist CTO in September, appointing Gertrud Kolb to the role. It is unknown whether Kolb joined the company in the knowledge that its CEO was due to depart and the CPTO was set to step up to fill the role.

Swedish rentals proptech Qasa appoints new CEO

Maria Björkander has been appointed CEO of Qasa, the Schibsted-owned proptech that provides Sweden’s largest service for renting out housing.

She replaces the co-founder of the company, Fredrik Strömsten, who left the company in September to join Sana.

Strömsten and the rest of his cofounders all stepped down in September.

Björkander, who was most recently a product manager at Volvo, said:

"I am taking over the leadership at Qasa at an incredibly exciting time.

"The company has had an impressive development in recent years and really proven that both the product and the business model work on the Swedish market by becoming the largest in rental housing. Now we are facing the next phase, both in terms of the development of the business and expansion into new markets. It feels incredibly fun to lead this strong and committed team into the next chapter in our growth journey."

Qasa operates in Sweden and Finland and is set to expand to Norway as part of strategic partnerships with the market-leading real estate portals Finn.no and Oikotie.

Adevinta Spain head of digital leaves

Aingeru Duarte has left his role as head of digital at Adevinta.

Duarte returns to MediaMarkt, where he worked before joining Adevinta.

Duarte is one of many Adevinta employees to leave the business in a flurry of changes since Permira and Blackstone took control of Adevinta earlier this year for circa $13 billion.

The company has already renamed its Spain entity, divested from Irish portal Daft.ie (and other Irish marketplaces under the Distilled Media umbrella.

United Kingdom: Houseful enters consultation period with potential redundancies at its software division

Houseful is entering a consultation period with some employees in its software business, with veteran Nikki Cole being the first big name to leave the company after 17 years.

Houseful's software segment includes Alto Software, Jupix and Expert Agent and CFP.

A spokesperson for Houseful said:

"As we look to 2025, we are focused on driving further efficiencies in our software business and recalibrating certain roles in our organisation. These proposals, which do not impact our core products of Alto, Jupix, Expert Agent and CFP, were very much a last resort.

"We want to reassure our customers that no roles involved in the development, support, or delivery of these products are affected. Our goal is to ensure we continue delivering enhanced products and services at pace, maintaining the value our customers expect from these industry-leading platforms. We are fully committed to supporting our affected colleagues throughout this process."

Staff at Zoopla are not expected to be affected.

Cole posted on LinkedIn to announce her departure, saying:

"After 17 years working across estate agency, new homes, commercial portal and software – from start up, to PLC, and then PE owned, it’s finally time for me to hang up my ZPG/Houseful hat and move on to new adventures."

Oceania: REA Group appoints new national customer training manager

REA Group has appointed Tara Christianson as the group's new National Customer Training Manager.

Christianson will lead customer training initiatives across franchises, ownership groups and agencies.

The appointment comes as a response to customer feedback which found 60% of consumers wanted more proactive support and training.

Christianson said:

"We’re doubling down on service, committed to helping you get bigger, better results. This new structure is about creating better employee experiences so that we can create better customer experiences. It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, and I’m feeling good."

Asia: Carousell cuts 7% of jobs amid demand slump

The Singaporean horizontal marketplace Carousell has cut 76 jobs in response to lower demand from consumers.

A spokesperson for the company told This Week In Asia:

"Affected roles were from both business and tech departments … with ongoing slowdown of consumer demand, we sought to proactively make adjustments to ensure the long-term sustainability and operational efficiency of our Group."

Carousell lost $38 million in 2023, from revenues of $116 million.

Sahibinden hires new CTO

The Turkish generalised marketplace Sahibinden has appointed technology veteran Bulent Akar as the firm's new CTO.

He was previously CTO at Turkey's leading food delivery platform Yemeksepeti, and he is currently co-founder and Chairman at the boutique software development and consultancy firm Agada Tech.

Europe: LeBonCoin up for sale? Not Yet, says CEO Antoine Jouteau

LeBonCoin CEO Antoine Jouteau has hinted that the marketplace may be up for sale, but insists "it is not a subject for now." [translated from French]

Jouteau told the French business channel BFM Business that a sale could be a "possibility" for LeBonCoin, the Adevinta-owned generalised marketplace.

Adevinta has already begun transitioning itself to divest from its diverse marketplace portfolio, beginning with Jouteau returning to his previous post if heading up LeBonCoin after Adevinta opted to operate without a centralised CEO.

In a wide-ranging interview, Jouteau also confirmed that LeBonCoin is seeking damages from Google in a multi-mission dollar lawsuit, and said the platform grew by 10% to €550 million in 2024.

Cinven completes $3.1 billion takeover of Idealista

Private equity firm Cinven finally closed its €2.9 billion ($3.1 billion) acquisition of the international real estate portal operator Idealista this week.

Despite being all but signed, sealed and delivered since this summer, Expansíon has reported that the official transaction closed on December 10, 2024.

The newspaper claimed it is the biggest single deal involving a Spain-based internet business of all time, with the valuation rising from the agreed sale price after changes in Idealista's operating performance in recent months.

Cinven's took a 70% stake in the portal operator, a clear market leader in Spain and Portugal, and a close-run market leader in Italy against Immobiliare.it.

Idealista Global, Idealista's parent company, increased its revenues to €259 million in 2023, a 19% increase year over year.

Asia: MagicBricks takes majority stake in PropViz

MagicBricks has acquired a majority stake in the proptech PropViz for an undisclosed sum.

PropViz offers 3D visualisation and immersive technology solutions such as virtual tours and smart maps, an integrated bookings system and real-time inventory management tools.

The proptech has developed 125 million sq. ft. of virtual spaces, designed 1,800+ interactive spatial layouts, and works with over 100 developers in India.

Sudhir Pai, CEO at Magicbricks, said:

"We now offer a full suite of solutions tailor-made for both homebuyers and developers as part of our full-stack positioning. For developers, apart from our leading ad-sales solutions, we’ve launched Site Visits & Verified Leads as disruptive solutions. With PropViz, we will expand our range of solutions for developers covering the entire funnel from prelaunch to launch to sustenance selling of projects."

United States: Compass to acquire Christie's International for over $400 million

The top broker in the United States, Compass, has agreed to acquire @properties and Christie’s International Real Estate for $444 million.

Compass is a big-name, coast-to-coast brokerage operator in the States and also competes with Zillow across mortgages and other services.

The addition of @properties (Chicago) and Christie's (nationwide, luxury properties) will

Robert Reffkin, CEO at Compass, said:

"We’re operating two great companies ‘as is,’ and that’s a really important message. We want to make sure we get the best from each other but not necessarily change quickly."

United Kingdom: Dwelly acquires another U.K. lettings business

The AI-enabled lettings marketplace Dwelly has made another acquisition after a busy second half of the year which has seen the challenger marketplace close two significant investments in rentals businesses.

Dwelly acquired Gallant Richardson earlier this month, adding circa 450 rental properties to its portfolio.

The acquisition follows the purchase of Lime Property in September, which added circa 1,000 properties to Dwelly's marketplace.

Europe: Scout24 acquires new-build property marketplace NeuBau Kompass

Scout24, the operator behind Germany’s leading real estate marketplace Immobilienscout24.de has acquired the new-build marketplace NeuBau Kompass for an undisclosed sum.

Scout24's press release stated:

By integrating neubau kompass’ products into the ImmoScout24 ecosystem, agents and property developers benefit from direct access to potential buyers, compelling presentation, and specialisation in newly built properties. neubau kompass’ customers will further profit from ImmoScout24's reach, brand, and innovative power.

Tobias Hartmann, CEO at Scout24, said:

"neubau kompass is serving a growing customer base in this increasingly important market. We very much look forward to bringing their product portfolio and customer experience to the ImmoScout24 ecosystem.

"By acquiring neubau kompass we are doubling down on the very important market for new residential properties. Germany needs to invest into housing, and together we will continue to actively push for this development to happen."

neubau kompass AG is a digital marketing platform for newly built residential real estate and property development projects in Germany.

Idealista Acquires Kyero

Idealista has agreed to acquire the UK-based second homes marketplace Kyero for an undisclosed sum.

Kyero will retain its operational independence and continue to partner with key real estate software providers and operators in its active markets. Kyero’s founders will continue to lead Kyero following the close of the acquisition and will join idealista’s management team.

This is idealista's seventeenth acquisition in the last sixteen years and is part of the company's inorganic growth strategy.

Jesús Encinar, founder and CEO of idealista, said:

"I am very pleased that Kyero, Louise and Martin, its founders, and their great team are part of idealista. I am sure that the future with both companies working together will improve results, user experience and new business opportunities for all our clients."

Asia: Competition watchdog approves PropertyGuru-Hedychium merger

Singapore’s competition watchdog has approved the acquisition of PropertyGuru by Hedychium Group.

Hedychium Group is indirectly owned by BPEA Private Equity Fund VIII, a fund advised by the nominal acquirer EQT.

The competition watchdog, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) said the merger would not substantially lessen competition in the Singapore market, citing the absence of overlapping goods or services between the two parties.

Glazer Capital acquires 1.4% stake in PropertyGuru

Meanwhile, New York City-based hedge fund Glazer Capital has paid $15.6 million to acquire a 1.43% stake in Singapore-based marketplace operator PropertyGuru.

PropertyGuru is currently under a privatisation takeover bid by EQT worth more than $1 billion.

Lamudi Indonesia acquires fintech aggregator Ideal

Lamudi Indonesia has acquired Ideal, a fintech aggregator for mortgage products in Indonesia.

The acquisition was executed through a debt-to-equity conversion—Lamudi is now the majority shareholder of Ideal.

United Kingdom: OneDome acquires mortgage broker service Coreco Group

OneDome continues its acquisition trail with the purchase of Coreco Group for an undisclosed sum.

Coreco Group directors Julian Ingall and Andrew Montlake will join OneDome’s management team and remain in their roles at Coreco.

OneDome operates an end-to-end homebuying solution, including a real estate portal, mortgage advice, application, conveyancing, and even a project manager for home moves.

The firm has been an active acquirer of businesses this year, including the purchases of payroll provider Caroola in October and mortgage advisory firm Albany Park in November.

Babek Ismayil, CEO and founder at OneDome, said:

"Bringing Coreco into the OneDome family is transformative for our vision of seamless property transactions.

"With the OneDome family now consisting of 170 members, including over 70 advisers, we are transforming homebuying for good."

United Kingdom: Zoopla launches suite of new ‘smart tags’ for property searches

Zoopla has improved its search experience for consumers with the launch of six new ‘smart tags’, driving more quality buyers for agents as a result.

Zoopla has used Natural Language Processing (NLP) to extract features from the description and computer vision to extract features from the images. Users can now filter by the six new criteria or smart tags; conservatory, cottage, en suite, kitchen island, patio and period property.

The tags, which can be used in conjunction with keywords to provide a more specific search experience, were added in response to their respective popularity with visitors to Zoopla's real estate portal.

Rich Hayes, Chief Operating Officer at Zoopla said:

"We want to make it as easy as possible for Zoopla users to make the next move, be it finding a suitable property to view, or submitting an enquiry. We’re confident that investing in a best-in-class search experience is a key way to unlock this and drive further ROI for our agent customers as a result."

United States: Zumper adds an AI assistant for renters

Rentals specialist Zumper has launched Zoe, a GenAI-based chatbot that responds to questions and requests from would-be tenants.

The new feature is based on ChatGPT-4o, the most up-to-date publicly available version of ChatGPT, and was developed by Zumper over six months.

Zoe, free to use for landlords, can answer virtually any question a prospective renter might have about a property or its neighbourhood—from pet policies to local amenities.

Users can also book viewings using the bot.

Anthemos Georgiades, co-founder and CEO at Zumper, said:

"At Zumper, we’re committed to building AI products that are transformational, not just headline seeking.

“We want to harness AI to empower both property managers and renters in a whole new way. Zoe is a game-changer for the rental industry — she offers 24/7 support to educate renters, narrow down their search and help set up their tours. Property managers should expect to receive far better informed and quality Zumper leads when Zoe passes them across."

Europe: Domclick adds subscription offer for agents with fewer listings

DomClick, the real estate vertical of Russia’s state-owned bank Sber, has added a subscription service designed for agents with fewer than 20 listings.

According to DomClick, 3 out of 4 real estate agencies post less than 20 properties for sale. Under the DomClick Pro package for agencies and private realtors, DomClick will offer fixed minimum subscription packages that include 19 placements and reduced rates for promoting their listings.

Domclick also adds video listings

Meanwhile, users of the DomClick app on Android can now view short video ads.

According to findings from DomClick's pilot test, such ads are up to 11 times more likely to be shared or added to favourites, and call conversions have doubled since their launch.

Asia: Singapore portal OhMyHome launches HomerAI

OhMyHome has launched HomerAI, an AI assistant the Singapore-based marketplace describes as “a one-stop shop for all home-related needs.”

Key features for the new assistant include home valuations, data on recent sales by area, monthly price averages, property insights for local neighbourhoods, highest and lowest sale prices by area, and a GPT-powered search function for creating a shortlist of suitable properties.

Lamudi Indonesia partners with Ray White

The Digital Classifieds Group-owned real estate portal Lamudi Indonesia has partnered with the realtor brand Ray White.

Under the terms of the collaboration, 297 agents in 78 Ray White offices have been integrated into Lamudi.

Johann Boyke Nurtanio, CEO of Ray White Indonesia, said:

"This collaboration is in line with our tagline in 2025: ‘Collaboration, consistency, perseverance.’ Collaborating with advanced technology from Lamudi, we can facilitate agents to work more efficiently and provide better services to clients.

"We believe that with the support of technology from Lamudi, our agents will be more effective and efficient in increasing productivity while facing the challenges of an increasingly competitive property market."

Highlights include:

• Revenues reach INR3.1 billion ($37.7 million U.S.), up 42% YoY
• Financial Services Revenues surge 55% YoY, to
• Real Estate (35%), Financial Services (55%) and Digital services (47%) segments all enjoy healthy growth YoY
• GTV grows 50% YoY

Square Yards completed the first half of the 2025 financial year in decent style with YoY revenue growth up 42%, following Q1's 52% revenue growth. The portal is close to profitability but remains loss-making for now after recording a Q2 EBITDA margin of -5%, flat year-on-year.

Importantly, the company says it is operating cash flow positive for the year so far.

Tanuj Shori, CEO at Square Yards, said:

"Square Yards' revenue momentum slowed slightly to 42% YoY revenue.

"Real Estate services and Financial services remain largest contributors with ~90% of the overall revenue. While Financial S¡ervices continued its momentum, real estate services had slower than expected growth in revenue realization. Gross margins declined 80bps but EBITDA margins slightly improved Y-Y. Historically H1 has been 35-40% of the overall FY and we remain confident of achieving ~USD 175-180mn for FY25."

Square Yards operates in India, Australia, Canada and the Gulf. It is a diversified real estate giant with a suite of brands under its management. Notable segments for the business include the Fintech brand Urban Money, a leading online lender and (one of) the largest mortgage marketplaces in India with a presence in over 250 cities.

Square Yards competes against the likes of REA India (Housing.com and PropTiger) in one of the most hotly contested battles for market leadership in the world. An IPO has been rumoured for the majority of this year and some tighter margins in the next couple of quarterly statements would do a world of good for the would-be public market leader.

Settlin raises $500k

According to the Economic Times, real estate marketplace Settlin has raised $500,000 U.S. in funding.

Participants included the Brigade Real Estate Accelerator Program (REAP).

Based in Bengaluru, Settlin connects agents and brokers with buyers and sellers on a freelance basis. Settlin also provides technology such as virtual property tours to ease the workload of independent real estate professionals.

The fast-growing startup has gained traction in the Bengaluru market, with its data-driven approach and gig-enabled workforce allowing it to execute resale opportunities without the need for a high-street agent.

REAP will help Settlin scale its operations by mentoring the team and providing market access.

GoFlint receives funding from Bpifrance

French real estate marketplace GoFlint has been granted a €700,000 loan by Bpifrance to recruit new talent and improve its user and advertiser experience.

Bpifrance is a French public sector investment bank.

The money will also allow GoFlint to double investments in its AI project integrated with WhatsApp, Flint-E, throughout 2025.

Mihai Gavriloiu, CEO and co-founder at GoFlint, said:

"This support from Bpifrance marks a decisive step for GoFlint. It allows us to accelerate our development, attract top talent, and strengthen our ability to push the boundaries of innovation, especially with Flint-E."

Flint-E is an intelligent assistant that transforms WhatsApp into a highly personalized property search engine. By combining artificial intelligence with the universality of WhatsApp, the product allows visitors to search using their own words and browse more than 450,000 real estate listings. WhatsApp has circa 43 million users in France alone.

Highlights include:

• Q3 Net revenues increased by 26.8% to RMB22.6 billion (US$3.2 billion) year-on-year
• Net income fell slightly to US$161.5 million in Q3 2024, compared to US$167.2 million in Q3 2023
• Adjusted EBITDA fell 14% from US$347.1 million in Q3 2023 to US$297.3 million in Q3 2024
• Net revenues from new home transaction services increased by 30.9% to RMB7.7 billion (US$1.1 billion) YoY
• Net revenues from existing home transaction services were flat at RMB6.2 billion (US$0.9 billion)
• Net revenues from home renovation and furnishing increased by 32.6% to RMB4.2 billion (US$0.6 billion)
• Net revenues from home rental services more than doubled to RMB3.9 billion (US$0.6 billion), a 118% increase YoY

Mr. Stanley Yongdong Peng, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Beike, said:

"In the third quarter of 2024, we continued to demonstrate proactive and sustainable growth momentum. Against the backdrop of market adjustments, each of our business lines achieved solid results. In our housing transaction services, we are actively pursuing growth while also committed to fostering a more harmonious ecosystem.

"In our home renovation and furnishing and home rental services, we are also continuously strengthening our foundational capabilities across product development, process restructuring, and supply chain improvements. Meanwhile, we have officially upgraded our management governance framework, adopting a mechanism of clear responsibilities and collective leadership to deliberate and plan key strategies and matters, ensuring steady and sustainable growth for the Company.”

"In October, transaction volumes on our platform rebounded significantly, signaling the start of the market recovery. With an improving external environment, we will stay true to our long-term vision, remaining optimistic, persistent, and united as we move toward a brighter future."

As one of the most interesting real estate businesses in the world, Beike is well worth a visual breakdown of its complex operations, including continued growth for the Home Renovations and Furnishing segment:

Meanwhile, after years of disruption to China's economy, Beike will be delighted to see operational metrics including the number of agents and web visits enjoy healthy growth from last year, namely circa 50,000 agents joining the platform since Q3 2023:

The final question is, can arguably the world's biggest real estate platform continue its full-year recoveries since 2021? If Peng's assertion that a market recovery is on the cards, Beike may well return to the heights of the likes of CoStar Group in the United States and Rightmove in the United Kingdom.

We'll start in China, where an AI assistant has received great reviews from Anjuke...

Anjuke celebrates "Xiao An" AI assistant

Xing Hongyu, CTO at Anjuke, has delivered a keynote speech explaining the success of an AI assistant that has been rolled out to Anjuke, the Chinese real estate portal operated by 58.com.

According to Hongyu, the AI assistant has served hundreds of thousands of brokers and brought more intelligent, more technological and high-quality services to more than 10 million house-hunting users.

Xiaoan Assistant improves the efficiency of agents through tools such as smart listing, smart micro-chat, and smart follow-up of business opportunities. Agents only need to enter the listings into the system, and Xiaoan Assistant can intelligently analyze the platform's customer demand for housing and the distribution of listings, and provide guidance to agents on listings.

Brokers can easily make professional house-viewing videos. When a broker records a video of a property, the AI can intelligently identify the house space layout, home appliances and furniture, and other decoration conditions, and intelligently generate the content of the house-viewing, video cover and subtitles. AI house-viewing videos have been played more than 100 million times.

Meanwhile, an intelligent micro-chat function can realize automatic replies, respond to customer inquiries promptly when the broker is busy, and can also provide professional speech suggestions when the broker replies autonomously.

Xing Hongyu said:

"The application of the Xiao An assistant is based on our analysis of the behaviour of large mass of users on the platform. It closely follows the complete service chain of real estate marketing and revolves around high-quality housing data."

Xing Hongyu also said that since its launch, the smart Xiaoan assistant has brought significant improvements to brokers in terms of work efficiency, call retention rate, and response time.

AtHome.jp surpasses 50 rent guarantee partners with latest collaborations

AtHome.jp now has partnerships with 53 rent guarantee companies after signing up two new partners, Insurance Co. and Entrust Co, for its 'Smart Application' service which allows online applications for rental properties.

AtHome.jp will continue to work to expand collaboration with rent guarantee companies, provide a comfortable environment for consumers looking for housing, and promote further operational efficiency and digital transformation in the real estate industry.

Tenants making Smart Applications can have their information such as name and address linked to rent guarantee companies allowing for east and speedy review requests.

Previously, when applying for a guaranteed review with a rent guarantee company, handwritten application documents were sent by fax or mail, which required work such as checking for deficiencies, but the ability to link application information through "Smart Application" not only reduces the workload and costs but also shortens the lead time from application to the start of the review.

The April 2020 amendment to the Civil Code made it mandatory for guarantors to disclose the maximum amount. The use of rent guarantee companies, which pay rent in advance in the event of rent arrears, is expanding.

According to a survey conducted by AtHome.jp in April 2024—of AtHome affiliates nationwide involved in rental brokerage and rental management—69.8% of respondents said that they use rent guarantee companies in more than 80% of all rental transactions.

PropertyGuru joins Zillow as a portal with a TV show

PropertyGuru has launched a reality TV show, Home Run, joining American real estate Zillow (Zillow Gone Wild) as a real estate portal with a branded TV show.

Home Run, set to be hosted on YouTube, will pit three agents in competition against each other to see who is the top agent in Singapore. The winner will take away a prize of $15,000 in PropertyGuru credits.

The show debuts on November 25. Watch the trailer below!

Another notable real estate portal with a TV show is REW in Canada, which has a Netflix-style branded real estate series, "RealTours", also hosted on YouTube and specialising in Canadian real estate.

Wasalt teams up with developers

Saudi Arabia-based proptech company Wasalt has entered strategic collaborations and signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with three local property developers.

Wasalt will partner with Dar wa Emaar, Fursan United, and Maskan Arabia Company—the latter two of which offer real estate investment services.

Bayut Saudi Arabia enters strategic collaboration with Riyad Bank

Proptech company Bayut, part of the Dubizzle Group) has signed a strategic collaboration deal with Riyad Bank—which is majority-owned by the country's government.

The deal will see Bayut KSA provide real estate services to the bank, including access to Bayut's real estate marketplace, real estate agency finder, new projects segment, interactive map viewer, drive time feature and 360 degree virtual property tours.

Bangladesh market leader BProperty enters agreement with service provider Sheba.xyz

Bangladesh's leading real estate portal, BProperty, has partnered with Sheba.xyz, a services marketplace, to bring priority access and exclusive discounts on essential services to its clients.

Under this partnership, Bproperty clients can avail of various discounts from 2 per cent up to 20 per cent on 53 different services of Sheba.xyz. Clients of Bproperty would be in the privileged position to receive all such services from Sheba.xyz, including cleaning, plumbing, electrical, and maintenance work.