reporter2
03-02-16, 18:46
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/the-man-who-became-singapores-guru-of-property-by-accident
The man who became Singapore's guru of property by accident
Feb 2, 2016
STEVE Melhuish knew nothing about the real-estate market in Singapore when the condominium he was renting was put up for sale in 2006. Now he dominates the region's online market for property searches.
The British-born Melhuish and his wife had just moved to the city-state 18 months earlier and they were surprised at how difficult it was to find new housing.
Decade-old sites like Realtor.com, popular in the US, hadn't reached Southeast Asia. And most real estate advertisements still appeared in the newspapers with only basic information such as price and a building name.
So in 2007, Mr Melhuish founded the PropertyGuru Group, which enables users to carry out more efficient property searches online. He now controls the largest internet real-estate website in the region with 14 million users a month.
The 47-year-old raised S$175 million from investors such as TPG Capital and Indonesia's Emtek Group for expansion. This was the second-largest amount raised by a tech company in South-east Asia last year.
PropertyGuru now faces challengers to its position as one of the region's hottest start-ups. They are giants such as Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and newcomer 99.co. The latter is backed by Facebook Inc's co-founder Eduardo Saverin and Sequoia Capital.
"We typically have one or two new competitors every year; it keeps us on our toes," said Mr Melhuish.
PropertyGuru's website lets users search for properties by location, type and price, as well as view photos of interiors along with floor plans. This is faster than taking the traditional approach of using newspapers and agents, and translates into savings for prospective buyers, who can now easily sift through many options.
PropertyGuru makes money by charging agents a fee to use its platform, and by selling advertising space online and in printed newsletters. In Singapore, the start-up holds about 90 per cent of the market - more than the total share of its next four rivals.
Ong Teck Hui, national director of research at property broker Jones Lang LaSalle Inc in Singapore, said: "PropertyGuru has become a common portal to go to for anyone searching for a property to buy or rent. They have managed to create a brand a bit like Coke when you want to drink. When you want to find a property, you go to PropertyGuru."
Steve Melhuish has taken versions of the site and its applications into Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Along with Singapore, these countries represent a US$140 billion (S$199 billion) annual market for property transactions.
Last month, PropertyGuru agreed to buy Ensign Media in its largest deal yet, adding magazines and websites about luxury properties and architectural content.
"We want to build depth and strength in existing markets," he said. "Being a strong integrated player in the marketplace is very important."
PropertyGuru's fundraising last year was the largest amount in the region after ride-hailing service GrabTaxi Holdings Pte, the rival to Uber Technologies Inc in South-east Asia.
Mr Melhuish declined to discuss PropertyGuru's valuation and said he had no immediate plans for an initial public offering, now that he has additional capital.
He credited the company's growth to paranoia, as numerous rivals have emerged and disappeared in the past eight years. Two months before he teamed with partner Jani Rautiainen to start PropertyGuru, three competitors entered the market, including iProperty Group. (In November, iProperty agreed to be bought by REA Group Ltd, a News Corp unit which owns real estate websites in Australia, China and Europe.)
PropertyGuru also competes with start-ups and banks.
With an Airbnb-like interface, 99.co, aims to draw users who want an easy-to-use search experience. This website is founded by Singapore entrepreneur Darius Cheung.
DBS Group Holdings Ltd, Southeast Asia's largest lender, has also developed an app to help home-buyers, by listing past transactions and providing a mortgage calculator.
Darius Cheung, 35, said the real difference between 99.co and PropertyGuru is "under the hood". He said: "Traditionally, property websites are about whoever pays more gets listed on top. This is why you get wrong data sometimes and this is a problem I wanted to fix."
His two-year-old start-up takes a "Google approach" of relevant search. Marketers of properties only pay when somebody actually makes an inquiry about the property. "That makes people want to put more accurate, quality information."
Mr Melhuish said PropertyGuru has adopted a similar approach with higher-quality agent listings ranked higher, regardless of whether they pay or not.
To keep up with consumers' shift to mobile phones and tablet computers, PropertyGuru has started 15 mobile apps in South-east Asia for consumers and agents in the four countries. These let prospective buyers search for properties near them and enable agents to upload listings.
Unlike many entrepreneurs who are inspired to create businesses to pursue a dream, Mr Melhuish became a devotee of real estate only after he took the plunge into his start-up.
"Many people think that you need to be passionate to start a business, but I was clueless," he said. "My two pieces of advice for wannabe entrepreneurs is to choose a large market and an industry that you'll become passionate about." BLOOMBERG
The man who became Singapore's guru of property by accident
Feb 2, 2016
STEVE Melhuish knew nothing about the real-estate market in Singapore when the condominium he was renting was put up for sale in 2006. Now he dominates the region's online market for property searches.
The British-born Melhuish and his wife had just moved to the city-state 18 months earlier and they were surprised at how difficult it was to find new housing.
Decade-old sites like Realtor.com, popular in the US, hadn't reached Southeast Asia. And most real estate advertisements still appeared in the newspapers with only basic information such as price and a building name.
So in 2007, Mr Melhuish founded the PropertyGuru Group, which enables users to carry out more efficient property searches online. He now controls the largest internet real-estate website in the region with 14 million users a month.
The 47-year-old raised S$175 million from investors such as TPG Capital and Indonesia's Emtek Group for expansion. This was the second-largest amount raised by a tech company in South-east Asia last year.
PropertyGuru now faces challengers to its position as one of the region's hottest start-ups. They are giants such as Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and newcomer 99.co. The latter is backed by Facebook Inc's co-founder Eduardo Saverin and Sequoia Capital.
"We typically have one or two new competitors every year; it keeps us on our toes," said Mr Melhuish.
PropertyGuru's website lets users search for properties by location, type and price, as well as view photos of interiors along with floor plans. This is faster than taking the traditional approach of using newspapers and agents, and translates into savings for prospective buyers, who can now easily sift through many options.
PropertyGuru makes money by charging agents a fee to use its platform, and by selling advertising space online and in printed newsletters. In Singapore, the start-up holds about 90 per cent of the market - more than the total share of its next four rivals.
Ong Teck Hui, national director of research at property broker Jones Lang LaSalle Inc in Singapore, said: "PropertyGuru has become a common portal to go to for anyone searching for a property to buy or rent. They have managed to create a brand a bit like Coke when you want to drink. When you want to find a property, you go to PropertyGuru."
Steve Melhuish has taken versions of the site and its applications into Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Along with Singapore, these countries represent a US$140 billion (S$199 billion) annual market for property transactions.
Last month, PropertyGuru agreed to buy Ensign Media in its largest deal yet, adding magazines and websites about luxury properties and architectural content.
"We want to build depth and strength in existing markets," he said. "Being a strong integrated player in the marketplace is very important."
PropertyGuru's fundraising last year was the largest amount in the region after ride-hailing service GrabTaxi Holdings Pte, the rival to Uber Technologies Inc in South-east Asia.
Mr Melhuish declined to discuss PropertyGuru's valuation and said he had no immediate plans for an initial public offering, now that he has additional capital.
He credited the company's growth to paranoia, as numerous rivals have emerged and disappeared in the past eight years. Two months before he teamed with partner Jani Rautiainen to start PropertyGuru, three competitors entered the market, including iProperty Group. (In November, iProperty agreed to be bought by REA Group Ltd, a News Corp unit which owns real estate websites in Australia, China and Europe.)
PropertyGuru also competes with start-ups and banks.
With an Airbnb-like interface, 99.co, aims to draw users who want an easy-to-use search experience. This website is founded by Singapore entrepreneur Darius Cheung.
DBS Group Holdings Ltd, Southeast Asia's largest lender, has also developed an app to help home-buyers, by listing past transactions and providing a mortgage calculator.
Darius Cheung, 35, said the real difference between 99.co and PropertyGuru is "under the hood". He said: "Traditionally, property websites are about whoever pays more gets listed on top. This is why you get wrong data sometimes and this is a problem I wanted to fix."
His two-year-old start-up takes a "Google approach" of relevant search. Marketers of properties only pay when somebody actually makes an inquiry about the property. "That makes people want to put more accurate, quality information."
Mr Melhuish said PropertyGuru has adopted a similar approach with higher-quality agent listings ranked higher, regardless of whether they pay or not.
To keep up with consumers' shift to mobile phones and tablet computers, PropertyGuru has started 15 mobile apps in South-east Asia for consumers and agents in the four countries. These let prospective buyers search for properties near them and enable agents to upload listings.
Unlike many entrepreneurs who are inspired to create businesses to pursue a dream, Mr Melhuish became a devotee of real estate only after he took the plunge into his start-up.
"Many people think that you need to be passionate to start a business, but I was clueless," he said. "My two pieces of advice for wannabe entrepreneurs is to choose a large market and an industry that you'll become passionate about." BLOOMBERG