Apps changing house hunt

The website’s mobile app has been downloaded more than 100,000 and Helm said it signified a “third stage of the real estate discovery process”, after print and websites.

The app allows buyers to find local open homes and new listings via smartphone.

“I think it has changed the process. The big thing with mobile is that it takes it to the next step, where listings are aggregated around where [a buyer] is.”

He said buyers were empowered by the ability to have all the information in their pockets.  “It makes it more immediate and personalised.”

Helm said there was no data available on whether the app improved selling times but anecdotally real estate agents reported large numbers of buyers using it.

He said the app was constantly being developed, with satellite imagery being added and the ability to integrate a saved web search.

A commercial property app is also in the pipeline.

The 2012 Nielsen Real Estate Market report found 27% of home buyers who responded to the survey had used a mobile app in the past year – up from 7% the year before.