French property portal Seloger to "develop abroad"

You may remember me writing this post saying that German publishing giant Axel Springer were looking to buy the leading French property portal http://www.seloger.com/ which boasts over one million listings across France.

Well, the securities regulator over here, the Autorite des Marches Financiers has just given them the OK to go ahead with the purchase, reported to be for €566 million.

Estate Agent Today is running this story which says:

However, even though the French regulator has said the Axel Springer bid is valid and can go ahead, it’s not a done deal.

Seloger, which has just reported a 12.6% rise in turnover this year, did not seem awfully impressed by its suitor.

However, Axel Springer already owns 12.4% of the portal and says that its offer still stands and it is up to the other shareholders.

And here comes the scary bit: could Seloger come over to the UK? Axel Springer says it wants to see it develop further, “both in France and abroad”.

One thing we all have to bear in mind is that the French do like to buy houses privately with around 50% of all transactions being done this way. 

Websites like http://www.pap.fr/ , http://www.entreparticuliers.com/ and even http://www.leboncoin.fr/ are all incredibly powerful.

I'm sceptical that "abroad" means the already well established UK market, there would be easier nuts to crack across continental Europe.

Still, this is going to be one to watch in 2011.

www.cognacproperty.com

Google to buy US property listing site?

Trulia is to the USA what Rightmove is to the UK.

This article by Kara Swisher of the Wall Street Journal claims that sources close to Google have confirmed that they are looking to buy Trulia  for $150-250 million.

If this is true, and it happens, then the shake-up in the way owners & agents market their houses for sale will continue apace.  A lot of technology commentators have forecast that 2010 will be the year that online video moves from the "just for fun" sector into the corporate world....expect Google to embrace and push this if/when they do launch a property portal.

I wrote a fair bit about the changing face of estate agency last year and fully expect to be writing more throughout 2010.  The action taken by these huge corporations globally will have a direct effect on the way people buy and sell houses in my hidden (but beautiful) corner of France tomorrow.

Meanwhile let's keep an eye on both Trulia and Ms Swisher's column as she does appear to have some excellent sources in Silicon Valley.

www.cognacproperty.com

French property portal launches iphone app

The leading property portal over here is http://www.seloger.com/ who claim a 70% share of the online market (think rightmove in the UK).

They have just launched their own application for the iphone.

This is a big thing for the way that property searches will be undertaken in the future.

Imagine being in a town or village in France and having the ability to instantly see details of all properties available. Price, floorplans, pictures, cadastral plans and any other info you need.

You'll be able to drive around, discount areas you don't like and just concentrate on those you do. Stop for lunch in some off the beaten track restaurant, fall in love with the surroundings and simply consult your iphone to see which of the houses around are for sale.

Don't hold your breath though. Whilst this is a most significant step it still is just one step.

For the process to work 100% efficiently you'll need a portal that lists all houses for sale and you'll need every agent/owner to input the pics, plans et al in the first place.

Don't forget that this is a country where half of all houses bought & sold are still done so privately.

This isn't going to happen in the short term (1-2 years) or even medium term (5-7 years) ....but it will eventually happen.

Traditional estate agents, property finders and everyone associated with this industry are going to have to adapt to a new way of working.

It will take a generation to work through (I doubt that 20% of my clients over the past six years have an iphone or even the slightest desire to know what an app is) but unless you're coming up to retirement age you should ignore this new way of living at your peril.

www.cognacproperty.com