DBS taps EdgeProp, Averspace for new online property marketplace

Wed, Jul 25, 2018


DBS Bank has launched an online property marketplace that aggregates close to 100,000 property listings from EdgeProp and Averspace, it said on Tuesday.

The DBS Property Marketplace (go.dbs.com/sg-propertymarketplace) aims to be a one-stop-shop where new home buyers can browse listings and link up with utilities providers, as well as renovation, cleaning and moving services. DBS said it will also work with partners to figure out how it can digitalise the conveyancing process.

While other mortgage calculators are available online, one unique feature of the home financial planner available on the DBS marketplace is that buyers can determine the impact that purchasing a property will have on their monthly cashflow, calculated based on how much they intend to pay from both their CPF (Central Provident Fund) and cash deposits, DBS said.

DBS hopes to double the number of property listings on the portal by the end of the year, when listings from SoReal will be added as well.

DBS is not the only bank trying to spread its digital footprint.

In January, OCBC launched OCBC OneAdvisor, an online portal that allows buyers to do a home search based on their affordability criteria. For listings, OCBC has partnered with EdgeProp and is in talks with 99.co.

Also in January, SRX Property launched the web-app Unlock myHome's Wealth, which also has one-stop-shop features. Buyers can apply for a mortgage online via SRX, and the difference is that they are not restricted to loans offered by DBS.

By tapping MyInfo, a government-backed digital vault of personal data, users of the SRX platform can also auto-fill forms. SRX is run by Singapore Press Holdings subsidiary Streetsine Technology Group. SPH also owns The Business Times.

SRX has around 43,500 property listings, lower than other portals like PropertyGuru which has more than 200,000 listings because expired and duplicate listings are removed.

A year ago, DBS launched the DBS Car Marketplace while the DBS Electricity Market was launched in March this year.

DBS said that its large retail consumer base enables it to build marketplaces with "robust ecosystems" in partnership with small and medium-sized enterprises.

Its head of secured lending Tok Geok Peng said the bank also intends to use customers' information in a "contextual manner".

She said: "For example, if I know that a customer has been looking at property every night, it tells us how serious he is as a property buyer. So we can reach out to him in a thoughtful manner and give him advice, that perhaps it's time to get approval-in-principle (required by a bank) before you commit on an option to purchase."