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30 Mar

iProperty Group Continuing The Momentum

What an exciting and busy week it has been!

We held our very first EXPO in Penang last weekend and what a tremendous success it was. Organised on behalf of the Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (REHDA) Penang, MAPEX Penang 2012, with the theme The Most Lau Juak Property Show, was certainly well received by Penangnites and foreigners alike.

The three day expo, launched by YB Chow Kon Yeow, State EXCO for Local Government and Traffic Control, who represented YAB Lim Guan Eng, Chief Minister of Penang, attracted over thousands of people from all walks of life who made their way to the Straits Quay Convention Centre to grab the best deals in town.

Here are some snap shots of the event:

YB Chow Kon Yeow Officially Launching MAPEX Penang 2012

Folks visiting the booths at the MAPEX PENANG 2012

After such an astounding success in Penang, all focus is now on delivering an equally successful iProperty.com International EXPO in Singapore, which will be held from the 20th – 22nd of April 2012 at the iconic Marina Bay Sands from 11am – 8pm.

Also present at the EXPO will be Howard, our friendly mascot in Singapore who is keen on letting people to be in the know not just about the latest in the property market, but to also provide them with the opportunity to discover the best deals in town.

From the peaks to the valleys, Howard is on ground to promote the EXPO.

So, do lock in the dates and we hope to see you there.

On a separate note, we are keeping to our promise to only deliver the best, fastest and easiest search experience for our consumers. We have recently made some changes to our website – iproperty.com.my, making download of information of property news and search faster. We are pleased to say that these changes will be implemented across our other three portals in Hong Kong, Indonesia and Singapore.

So, brace yourself to have all the information you need to make an informed decision downloaded in a blink of an eye.

Another significant accomplishment on the innovation front is the Malaysian team winning at the recent Facebook Mobile Hack Day in Singapore. With a total of eight submission and only four winners to be selected, we are proud to win the Best Overall App for use of Facebook.

The team developed an app called the Property Friend Finder, which will enable users to find properties that are near their friends and family.

These are only some of the innovative things that we at the iProperty Group are working on. We assure you, there are more interesting things in store. So, do stay tuned!

Enjoy the week!

2 Mar

iProperty Group – Delivering Record Breaking Results

A philosopher by the name of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel once said that nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion.

I concur that with passion, topped with determination, we can achieve anything we set out to do. As such, we have embodied this into our core values, where we ensure that we remain passionate in our words and actions while aiming for excellence.

This success was evidenced by the fact that in 2011, we helped millions of property buyers across our four portals search for their dream home or next property investment, be it locally or internationally. This phenomenal success was also seen with our agents who have successfully grown and taken their business to greater heights. Aside from that, the iProperty Group has been instrumental in providing a highly effective platform for hundreds of developers across the region promote their developments.

So, in 2012, you can be assured that we will continue to focus on providing consumers with the best experience when searching for property on either one of our four portals. We are also committed to being long term partners with the real estate industry in successfully growing their businesses while we increase our focus on providing integrated digital marketing solutions to the ever burgeoning property developer market across the region.

In lieu of that, in Hong Kong, the team held their annual dinner for customers and the event was well attended.

A Group Picture – The Hong Kong Team With Agents

On a separate note, in my previous blog, I stated that we recently released the findings of our iProperty.com Asia Property Market Sentiment Report 2012. The survey, conducted across our four portals in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Singapore, revealed that Asians were very keen on investing in properties overseas, with many citing migration, favorable currency rates and economic slowdown as reasons for their interest.

The findings of the survey further reinforced our desire to provide property buyers with a platform to search for properties overseas with greater ease and accessibility. With that, we launched an International section on each of the portals that we have. This new channel will not only serve the needs of local property buyers but will also provide property developers and agents, outside of the Group’s core markets easy access to investors in Asia.

With our unrivaled reach to Asia’s largest online property audience, the new channel will set the benchmark for the way property developers and agents reach their potential investors. It will also offer them a platform to engage with Asian investors in the most cost effective and highly efficient manner.

So if you are on the hunt for properties overseas, do visit http://www.iproperty.com.sg/international/

On a more fun note, today marks Employee Appreciation Day across the globe, which occurs annually on the first Friday of the month of March.

So to all employees across the iProperty Group, I would like to thank you for your passion, determination, commitment and dedication in taking the Group to higher levels. It’s because of you, we have achieved many milestones.

Enjoy the weekend!

24 Feb

The iProperty Group and The Asian Property Market

Over the last few months, there have been numerous reports flooding the main stream and online media with predictions of the property market in Asia. Given the slowing demand from key trading partners, the United States and Europe, the Asian economy was set to take a downturn.

As we serve an ever-growing number of consumers, agents and developers, we leveraged on our market leading websites in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Singapore as a bellwether to gauge the opinions of thousands of consumers in the region on the property market.

Conducted from November 2011 to January 2012 and gathering a total of 8,499 respondents, the first cross market online property survey of its kind revealed that despite the worldwide economic uncertainty, a majority of these survey respondents had optimistic views on the property market in Asia.

Across the four countries surveyed, the survey respondents had somewhat more in common than they had differences. The key similarities include:

  • Majority of people answering the survey in each country had occupied their current premises for less than five years
  • Economic and political concerns were not high on the list of concerns for most survey respondents
  • Location and price were the two most important factors taken into account in purchasing property, while political/economic climate and recommendations from family and friends were the least important.

During the launch of the survey, I was asked, “What is the most important factor to consider before investing in property?” To which I responded three factors – LOCATION, LOCATION and LOCATION!

Why? Because location is the most important factor that property investors look into as it ultimately will help determine how much yield you get, and how much capital growth. So before deciding on purchasing or investing in any property, do your research. Study the amenities, accessibility to public transportation, schools and etc.

So it wasn’t a surprise that location was one of two key factors that respondents considered important.

A key difference across the region was in the type of property these respondents preferred. The survey findings showed that landed property was the most popular type of property that respondents in Malaysia and Hong Kong favoured. In Singapore, private condominiums were the most popular type of property, while houses were the most popular in Indonesia.

It was also interesting to note that most of the survey respondents in each country had only been in their current premises for five years or less. Another key distinction was that when it came to ownership of properties, over 40% of Malaysian’s surveyed reported owning two or more properties, a higher proportion than in any other country. Hong Kong survey participants had the fewest property owners.

On the overseas property front, Singaporeans showed a higher interest than respondents from Malaysia, Indonesia and Hong Kong, with a majority choosing Malaysia and Australia as their most preferred overseas locations.
Malaysians on the other hand preferred Australia, Singapore and United Kingdom as their preferred overseas destination of investment, with many citing migration or retirement plans as the main reason of purchase.

To learn more about these findings, you can download a full copy of this report by clicking here -
http://edm.iproperty.com/sg/Asia-Property-Report-2012-Singapore/

The survey report has offered us valuable insights of the property market and I trust that you too will find this report highly beneficial as it offers an unbiased view on the Asian property market.

Enjoy the weekend!

27 Jan

A Successful Start for the iProperty Group

Hope you had a great Chinese New Year celebration and enjoyed the long weekend!

In 2011, the teams all across the iProperty Group focused their commitment on building relationships with customers and in finding ways to further enhance the experience of consumers who visit our website, to search for the dream home.

Our inaugural publication – Malaysia Top Property Developers 2011/2012

The dedication, passion and unrelenting commitment showcased by the team have resulted in the group achieving a 103% increase in revenue, and a 72% increase in the number of paying agents. The Group also significantly deepened its relationship with property developers, highlighted by the launch of our Top Developers publication earlier this year.

To our loyal and esteemed consumers and customers, this success could not have been achieved without you as well. The growth we’ve experienced over the years is because of customers and consumers like you, who faithfully support our business.

We appreciate your trust, and we’ll do our best to continue to give you the kind of service you deserve.

And to the entire team at the iProperty Group, a big THANK YOU for all your hard work and dedication. Your passion and determination, has helped us achieve one milestone after another.

Our performance in 2011 provides us with an outstanding starting point for 2012, and rest assured, we have a clear strategy for each country and will continue to focus on executing our plans to continue to deliver only the best for you.

Have a great weekend.

6 Jan

2012 – iProperty Gets Innovative

So 2012 has arrived! I hope you all enjoyed the extended holidays and ushered in the New Year with new goals, resolutions and of course in style. Hot spots around the city center and shopping malls were filled with people gathering to do the final countdown to the New Year. The skylines were filled with bright and vibrant colorful sparks of beautiful patterns from the fire crackers and it was just indeed a truly beautiful sight to behold.

The festive season is indeed a joyous occasion – a time of family bonding and of course a time for feasting. I guess many; will be hitting the gym soon to burn off all those extra calories. I know I will.

The holidays also gave me some extra time to do some reading and I came across a book entitled Discipline Dreaming.

Written by Josh Linkner, a successful serial entrepreneur, founder of a highly successful company in the promotion’s industry, Linkner’s book outlines various processes and techniques that encourage and enable innovation among employees.

Innovation has and will always be a key fundamental to the iProperty Group. We continuously strive towards developing highly innovative products and services to meet the needs of our target market.

In today’s world, the success of any business is constantly measured, not just by revenues, but by a wide spectrum of things and being in the online industry – by brand recall, by unique visitors, by leads and of course by sales amongst many other factors.

The need to stay ahead of competitors has never been more critical and innovation is indeed the key fundamental. Linker outlines in his book that the only way to sustain long term innovation and growth is through creativity – at all levels of the organisation. And I certainly couldn’t agree more.

Disciplined Dreaming shows you how to create profitable new ideas, empower all your employees to be creative, and sustain your competitive advantage over the long term. His book outlines the whole process in five easy steps that will make creativity easy for you and your organisation.

So, for 2012, let’s get innovative and believe that it will be a great and successful year.

Time to leave our comfort zones, put on our thinking and creative caps, and explore new possibilities in a disciplined way of course.

Enjoy the weekend and Happy 2012!

9 Dec

2011 – A Year of Success for iProperty

Hello December!

I don’t know about you but I feel that the last 11 months have whizzed by in a blink of an eye. But nevertheless, it’s been an amazing journey.

This year saw me become a father for the second time to beautiful baby daughter. My lovely daughter is now nearly 6 months old. I am also proud to say that my eldest daughter has been nothing short but a remarkable and caring big sister.

On the business front, 2011 has been a year of success across the iProperty Group.

2011 saw us change our name from IPGA Limited to the iProperty Group Ltd, acquire the No.1 and No.3 property portals in Indonesia, win highly acclaimed awards in Malaysia and Hong Kong, clinch the 4th place in the fastest Australian growing business by Business Review Weekly and not forgetting the birth of the region’s first comprehensive and designated portal of commercial and industrial properties, CommercialAsia.com.

We also had tremendous revenue growth across the group. Our portals in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia continue to remain the leading and preferred property portal in their respective countries. Our significant growth has also attracted investments from France’s No.1 property portal, SeLoger.com, to the business.

The launch of our inaugural coffee table book, Malaysia Top Property Developers 2011/2012, is also something we are extremely happy about. You can grab a copy of this limited edition book at a bookstore near you soon, for only RM 99.

Needless to say that I am very proud of all that we have achieved this year. I especially commend the staff at iProperty for their passion and dedication, for without them, these numerous milestones that we achieved would not have been possible.

But I’m convinced the best is yet to come. Looking forward to the year ahead fills me with excitement.

I can assure you that 2012 will be an exciting year. We have many things lined up for you, so do stay tuned.

I also want to take this opportunity to personally thank all our consumers, customers and partners for continuously believing in us and for growing with us to achieve one milestone after another.

Have a great week.

28 Nov

The Far-Fetched Truth

I am not sure how many of you have watched the movie a Few Good Men. It’s a court room drama which revolves around the trial of two U.S. Marines charged with the murder of a fellow Marine and the tribulations of their lawyer as he prepares a case to defend his clients.

One of the most famous and memorable lines from that movie was Col. Nathan R. Jessep’s (Jack Nicholson) shouted response to Lt Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise), where he said “You can’t handle the truth!” after the young inexperienced U.S Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps lawyer who lead the defense in the court-martial of two marines that were accused of murdering a fellow Marine of the unit, said “I want the truth!”.

Needless to say that Nicholson’s character then goes on a long rant that unwittingly leads to an admission of his guilt in the death of a young marine.

The truth is indeed a bitter pill to swallow! But just how far would you go to stretch the truth?

In this highly competitive industry, standing out ahead of competitors is crucial. And it is important to do it with integrity, honesty and with a code of conduct, for it’s the core values that build your company’s reputation.

But sadly, some new players to the industry will go through great lengths to use cheap tactics to boost their company’s image.

I firmly believe it’s vital to act with integrity, to be accountable and responsible for our actions, not just to our stakeholders but to all our customers and consumers.

Shaun Di Gregorio - CEO of iProperty Group Limited

On a separate note, I am extremely thrilled by how well the iProperty Group has fared this year.

2011 saw us change our name from IPGA Limited to the iProperty Group Ltd, acquire the No.1 and No.3 property portals in Indonesia, win highly acclaimed awards in Malaysia and Hong Kong, clinch the 4th place in the fastest Australian growing business by Business Review Weekly and not forgetting the birth of the region’s first comprehensive and designated portal of commercial and industrial properties, CommercialAsia.com.

We also had tremendous revenue growth across the group. Our portals in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Hong Kong continue to remain the leading and preferred property portal in their respective countries. Our significant growth has also attracted investments from France’s No.1 property portal, SeLoger.com, to the business.

You can also read all about our success here.

Have a great week ahead!

21 Nov

The Importance of Understanding

Christmas malls all around the world are decked with boughs of hollies and Christmas trees are exquisitely decorated. With Christmas carols playing in the background, one can’t help but eagerly await the holidays.

The ambience captures attention and certainly creates the mood for shoppers to want to get started on their Christmas shopping.

Marketers have developed numerous campaigns and tactics to promote and entice consumers to purchase their products and services as the perfect gift this festive season. A good marketing campaign that is thought out thoroughly can certainly capture attention and achieve its desired objectives.

This reminds me of an article that I recently read online. Dating back as far as 1960, Theodore Levitt, a man credited with radically altering the way marketing is practiced and studied, published an article entitled Marketing Myopia which was published in Harvard Business Review. In that article, which sold more than 850,000 reprints, Levitt captured the definition and importance of producing products that meets the needs of consumers.

He argued that companies had paid too much attention to producing products and too little to satisfying the needs of customers. In an example given by him, he had written that the train had lost out to the airplane and the motorcar because it thought that it was in the business of running trains rather than providing transportation for customers.

That message may not sound all that ground-breaking now, but it is very true. Many companies produce highly innovative products without taking into consideration how well the product will meet the needs of consumers or its intended target market.

Such is the key fundamental behind the developments of all our products – understanding. Fueled by our passion and in-depth understanding of our consumers, customers and market trends, we have through the years invented highly innovative products that have given a new definition to the way properties are listed and searched.

Our country first approach has also been instrumental in making us the trusted and preferred property portal in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Singapore. This will continue to be the driving force in all that we do and undertake.

2011 has been an exceptionally great year for the team at iProperty. We are now finalising all our plans for 2012 and the directions we will be embarking on. We promise you that 2012, will be far more exciting!

Happy Christmas shopping!

 

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