The Real Group Blog

Media Release – For Immediate Release

LAUNCH OF SMARTLOANS.SG – SINGAPORE’S FIRST INSTANT ONLINE MORTGAGE COMPARISON PLATFORM

The Real Group develops new innovative solution to help home buyers and owners compare mortgage rates across 8 major banks in Singapore

Singapore, 6 April 2009 – New and existing home buyers in Singapore can now sleep better at night, knowing that their mortgage is the lowest it can be thanks to SmartLoans – the first-of-its-kind mortgage comparison platform serving the local market. Developed by The Real Group, SmartLoans is a free-to-use online mortgage comparison platform that enables users to easily search, compare and enquire about home loan packages available across 8 different banks. Through SmartLoans, what previously took a couple of hours of research can now take a couple of minutes. More importantly, the unbiased information provided could result in significant cost savings as users can determine which loan package saves them the most amount of money.

Previously, to find the best mortgage rates in town, users had to plough through multiple banking websites, educate themselves on the many loan packages available and calculate interest amounts manually; all of which were complicating and time consuming. Alternatively, they could approach a mortgage broker, resulting in added costs and time spent. With SmartLoans, users enjoy the flexibility of going through the process independent of a third party, as well as the ease and precision of having the system perform the calculations automatically – free of charge. SmartLoans monitors the market closely and updates mortgage rates as soon as there are any changes, ensuring that users are always provided with the most up-to-date information.

The process of getting the best rates through SmartLoans is simple. The SmartWizard tool guides users through a series of short questions and automatically creates the user’s unique “mortgage profile”. This process typically takes about 2-3 minutes in total. Mortgage-related terms such as “locked-in”, or “floating rates” are explained clearly throughout the process, to help first-timers. The SmartWizard also gives details on how to arrive at the best package. For example, it advises users on when it would be best to take up a fixed rate, or when they should avoid taking up a lock-in package.

Upon completion, the SmartWizard presents a chart and table of all applicable loan packages; sorted in ascending order of the cumulative interest they would have to pay throughout the loan tenure. Users can then opt to connect directly with the bank should they decide to find out more from the bank’s loan officer. Should the users eventually take up a mortgage with the bank through SmartLoans, The Real Group gets a commission from the bank. No charge is made to the user.

“SmartLoans gives users more control over the mortgage and refinancing process. We aim to help our customers find the best deal when hunting for a mortgage,” says Vinod Nair, CEO of The Real Group. “Many potential home buyers will find SmartLoans very useful. At the same time, it will also help home buyers who are looking to refinance their existing mortgage compare their options.”

“With the current economic downturn, we needed to refinance our mortgage. We tried SmartLoans and were delighted at how easy and user-friendly it was, even to someone like me who is not familiar with using the Internet. In the end, we found a bank that was able to give us the best refinancing option and are in the process of finalizing the paperwork. Refinancing our loan would potentially save us thousands,” said Mdm Poh, who bought her house in 2006 and is refinancing her $200,000 mortgage.

The Real Group developed SmartLoans using advanced Internet technology and a customer-centric business model. The Real Group is the same team behind HomeSpace.sg and RentSpace.sg – both map-based real estate search engines for Singapore. The Real Group’s founding members comprise of NUS graduates, who aim to enhance and simplify the home buying process.

“I am heartened to see The Real Group developing new innovative solutions for the real estate industry. Although the economic situation has had a dampening effect on the home buying scene, The Real Group have adapted their business model and developed new revenue-generating activities. More importantly, SmartLoans provides real value to its users,” said Prof Wong Poh Kam, Director of the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre, which is incubating The Real Group.

To check out SmartLoans, visit http://www.SmartLoans.sg

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About The Real Group
The Real Group was founded in 2007 and is the same team that brought the popular map-based real estate search engines HomeSpace.sg and RentSpace.sg. The Real Group is funded and supported by MDA and NUS Enterprise. The Real Group continually strives to provide pro-consumer solutions for the real estate industry. http://therealgrp.com/

About NUS Enterprise
NUS Enterprise was established in 2001 as a university-level cluster, to provide an enterprise dimension to NUS teaching and research involving the university’s students, staff and alumni. The functions of the Enterprise cluster complement the academic cluster of the University to nurture talents with an entrepreneurial and global mindset. NUS Enterprise promotes the spirit of innovation and enterprise through experiential education, industry engagement & partnerships and entrepreneurship support. www.nus.edu.sg/enterprise

Media enquires may be directed to:

Chan Yiu Lin
NUS Enterprise
yiulin@greenergrass.com.sg
Mobile: (65) 9765-5897

TECH-SAVVY and bubbling with youthful exuberance, many local entrepreneurs of Web-based start-ups know how to drive traffic to theirInternet sites with attractive and value-added content that can beaccessed without charge.

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And judging from what they said at a conference last Saturday, it appears that making money from their sites often comes as an afterthought.

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“What we are sure about is that we don’t want to charge users for it,” said Mr Dominic Ee, 26, one of the three founders of online transport guide Gothere, whose website is at www.gothere.sg.

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The site, which is only two months old, now gets about 5,000 hits a day.

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One of the most popular features from the online transport guide is the function that helps drivers plan routes that bypass the Electronic Road Pricing gantries.

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This feature is especially useful for motorists as more and more ERP gantries are being set up with higher charges to control traffic flow.

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Mr Ee was representing one of the 17 technology startups pitching their wares at the fifth E27 Unconference 2008 for entrepreneurs last Saturday.

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“Marketing is a huge problem for us,” said Gothere co-founder Toh Kian Khai, also 26. The company does not have any income stream yet, but he hopes to be able to earn the first dollar by the end of the year.

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“We’re trying to come up with ways to tie up with companies to provide more value-added services to their websites,” said Mr Toh. Currently, many corporate websites only have a map of their location and the bus or MRT services nearby, he said.

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Besides the “avoid-ERP” feature, www.gothere.sg: includes details such as parking charges, which prompted one user to call it a “driver’s Bible”.

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The economic slowdown hasn’t deterred many of these first-time entrepreneurs:from launching their services.

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Being fans of the free access model used by Google and Facebook, these technopreneurs offer their services free to benefit as many as possible. They also attract traffic by making their sites user-friendly and by allowing “consumer-generated content”.

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Mr Vinod Nair, the 26-year-old chief executive of Real Group, said: “We are not so concerned about monetary gains now. What drives us is that people just love to use the services.”

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When he started :www.homespace.sg with four of his classmates from the National University of Singapore last May, he had the home buyer in mind rather than profits to be made from the site, which currently attracts 300 to 400 users a day.

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His team of five collects information from the Urban Redevelopment Authority and Housing Development Board websites as well as from real estate agents and presents it through a simple interface. The graphical presentation on the site features the recent transactions of homes from each neighbourhood so that home buyers know what the average market price is.

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“We hope to launch a similar site for rental markets by August,” said Mr Nair.

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Mr Nair, who is a computer science major, is confident that once the site gathers more traffic, there will be a way to profit from it. For now, he is focused on developing content.

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According to a DP Information-ACE Startup Enterprise Survey done in March, only about half of the startups are aware of the existence of Government assistance schemes. DP recommended that start-ups take advantage of the various training grants available, which includes subsidies on marketing and other business courses.

Real estate search engine HomeSpace.sg has unveiled their latest feature, HomeValue, which allows Home buyers to determine their negotiation advantage on real estate that they are interested in. “Homebuyers are usually very helpless when it comes to negotiation. They usually rely on an agent to advise them on the price to offer. “, said Vinod Nair, CEO of HomeSpace.sg.

With HomeValue, home buyers can now be well informed of the pricing trends and past transactions of comparable homes, which means that they are empowered with data that helps them determine the best price they should pay for the house.

HomeValue is unlike any other price trend feature available. HomeValue actually does a radius scan for similar property in the area and pulls up the past transaction and listing data for those units. 

“To derive an accurate offer price, you have to refer to similar properties in the area. You cannot compare 5 room flats with 3 room flats. Even units of the same type within the same neighbourhood differ in price based on proximity to amenities.”, explained Vinod.

HomeValue cuts down more than 90% of the workload and information gathering one has to go through before making a price decision on the house. Potential buyers can track the past transaction mean of similar houses within the area of their desired house up to 2 years back.

With this latest feature added into HomeSpace’s arsenal, it now boasts of the most number of pro-consumer features to help consumers effortlessly obtain relevant information on their desired homes.

Local Real Estate Updates

1.    Property transactions in Singapore shrink, prices weaken, but some segments are still strong.

BASED on the latest monthly developer sales data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), property prices could be on the downward trend.Developer sales fell, with April seeing only 274 transactions. This is about 9 per cent lower than the 301 units sold in March, though still higher than the 174 units sold in February.

And while it is difficult to accurately pinpoint price movements with such low volume, an analysis by Knight Frank of overall median prices achieved nevertheless registered an 8.9 per cent drop in April, falling to $943 psf compared to $1,035 psf in March.

The peak median price of over $1,400 psf was reached in August 2007.

Knight Frank director (research and consultancy) Nicholas Mak also explained that the analysis was a ‘median of median prices’, and so may not be a precise reflection of price movements.

Mr Mak also said that applying a different mode of analysis to the same data - the formula used to calculate URA’s quarterly property price index for instance - could even show that prices have increased slightly.

Still, a comparison of monthly median prices of recently launched developments does suggest that prices could be falling.

The 79-unit Blu Coral was launched in February with nine units sold at a median price of $872 psf. In March, 28 units were sold at a median price of $802 psf, while in April, 18 units were sold at a median price of $657.

Similarly, 53 units of the 106-unit, The Verve, were launched in March with 36 units sold at a median price of $1,187 psf. In April, 8 units were sold at a median price of $1,055 psf.

And nine units of the 625-unit, The Quartz, were sold in March at a median price of $742 psf, followed by 14 units sold in April at a median price of $721 psf.

Interestingly, one unit of Waterfront Waves was sold at $909 psf in April, higher than the median price of $806 in March when 14 units were sold.

Perhaps another indication of the weakening market is that 43 units of 659-unit The Parc Condominium, previously reported as being fully sold, have re-emerged on the market. According to the monthly data, the returned units first appeared in February.

A source that did not want to be named also said that these units were returned by buyers who chose not to exercise their options, forfeiting a quarter of the 5 per cent downpayment in the process.

Jones Lang LaSalle head of research (South-East Asia) Chua Yang Liang has also analysed median prices as a measure of volatility and suggests that this has increased in the Outside Central Region (OCR).

Dr Chua explained that volatility, as a measure of how wide market prices are per unit dollar of the median price achieved could also reflect, ‘the market’s speculative level’. As such, he said: ‘It would appear that upgraders may be returning, with entry level projects that are moderately priced between $750 to $850 psf as the preferred choice.’

Supporting this were the healthy sales of the 56-unit Stadia at Yio Chu Kang, which saw 52 units sold. Two units were sold for under $750 psf while the remaining 50 were sold at between $750 and $1,000 psf.

In the OCR, Dr Chua said based on the analysis, median prices continued to soften by 4.2 per cent. But he also added that the analysis was just an ‘indication of the market’s mood’, and does not account for product differentiation or physical attributes of each development.

While the volume of sales was low in the Central Core Region with just 19 non-landed homes transacted, Dr Chua believes that the low volatility in median prices there suggests that market activity and future prices in the high end market are likely to remain stable.

Also holding this view is CB Richard Ellis Research executive director Li Hiaw Ho who noted that two units in Scotts Square were sold at around $4,300 psf, a unit at Orchard Scotts was sold at $2,520 psf and two units at Skypark were sold at around $2,300 psf.

‘Although high-value transactions were limited, the individual transactions seemed to indicate that prices in the high-end market were still holding firm,’ he added.

The analysis of price movements will however, remain an academic one, and as such will remain open to debate.

Colliers International director (research and advisory) Tay Huey Ying said there were too few transactions at the higher end of the market to comment fairly on the sector.

And even for the OCR, she noted that the median transacted price for mass-market units averaged $792 psf in April, about 8 per cent higher than the average median price of $729 in August 2007 when the highest sale volume for the sector was registered.

- Source : Business Times - 16 May 2008

2.    CDL Chief Kwek Leng Beng says Singapore real estate market sustainable.

HOTEL and property tycoon Kwek Leng Beng believes Singapore’s real estate market is sustainable and further investment opportunities lie ahead.

Mr Kwek, who was a panelist at the Financial Times Asia Property Summit held at his St Regis Hotel yesterday, said the property market is just consolidating.

‘I am also waiting for the opportunity … to go in and buy at the right time,’ he said.

The executive chairman of City Developments said growth in Macau’s gaming industry had driven up residential property prices there sharply. And with two integrated resorts and big events such as the Youth Olympics in the next few years, Mr Kwek reckons the future is bright for Singapore real estate.

Mr Christopher Fossick, Jones Lang LaSalle’s managing director for South-east Asia, who was on the same panel, said there is now a higher proportion of investors than before, compared with occupiers.

Investors tend to be more sensitive to market sentiment, he said.

CDL, which has held back the launch of four residential projects because of poor sentiment, said in its recent earnings announcement that it plans to release them once sentiment improves and when pent-up demand can be realised.

‘In the first place, we were sick,’ said Mr Kwek of the property market before its recent boom. ‘But today, we have shifted to another platform. Instead of relying on technology, we are relying on our status as a global city.’

- Adapted from Business Times and The Straits Times- 16 May 2008

It’s one of the biggest bets you can place on another person: You hire a real estate agent to sell your home.

She sizes up its charms, snaps some pictures, sets the price, writes a seductive ad, shows the house aggressively, negotiates the offers, and sees the deal through to the end. Sure, it’s a lot of work, but she’s getting a nice cut. On the sale of a $300,000 house, you’ll typically pay a 6 percent agent fee of $18,000. That’s a lot of money. But you tell yourself that you never could have sold the house for $300,000 on your own. The agent knew how to - what’s that phrase she used? - “maximize the house’s value.” She got you top dollar, right?

A real estate agent is every bit the expert. She is better informed than you about your home’s worth, the state of the housing market, even the buyer’s frame of mind. You depend on her for this information.

As the world has grown more specialized, countless such experts have made themselves similarly indispensable. Doctors, lawyers, contractors, auto mechanics: They all enjoy informational advantage. And they use that advantage to help you.

Right?

Read the rest of this entry »

Local Real Estate Updates

1.    4 bungalows sold for 5.5million each despite subdued property sentiments

Despite the current quiet residential market, all four strata bungalows in a freehold cluster housing development near Eng Neo Avenue were snapped up at $5.5 million each at a preview on Friday last week.

The $22 million transaction works out to $1,128 psf of built-up area. The buyer was a European with a Singaporean wife. ‘The units were bought partly for the buyers’ own use and partly for investment,’ said Jerry Tan, managing director of JTResi, the sole marketing agent for Quartet on Vanda.

The bungalows, which are expected to be completed early next year, are being developed by Stanley Quek’s Region Development on a 12,300 sq ft site at Vanda Crescent off Dunearn Road. Each two-storey unit has an attic, a basement and a swimming pool. Built-up areas range from 4,844 sq ft to 4,919 sq ft.

‘The market is not as dead as people may perceive it to be. For better quality developments that are priced sensibly, there will be buyers,’ Mr Tan said.

-As adapted from Business Times 15 May 2008

Read the rest of this entry »

Amazing. Simply amazing. The power of the media that is.

The Business Times contacted us late last year wanting to do a story. It started off with the focus being the team rather than the product; with interesting angles slanting towards how the brightest ideas may occur not in big, pretentious boardrooms, but in messy garages occupied by “young-twenty-something-internet-punks”.

 Somehow along the way, the product started selling itself more and more (much to our delight) and the story eventually became a full feature about HomeSpace.sg, not the people running it. But hey, we ain’t complaining. Check out the article here.

Since the article was published on February 4th 2008, our site traffic doubled, SMS leads sent out via HomeSpace doubled and sign-ups TRIPPLED! We were very shortly asked to do another interview with Entrepreneur.com.sg. Article here.

The Real Group would like to thank Felda Chay for writing the article and tolerating our never-ending rants.

Today was incredibly tiring… spent the entire day shooting 3 of 5 of our rentspace viral ads… It was incredibly fun and the ads are hilarious… I dunno if my reputation is going to be affected by this but what the hell… Richard Branson has done crazier things.

A BIG thank you to all those who helped out in the ad production today. YY, Mike, Pang Ren, Shaun, Sara, Denise and Justin! You guys are awesome! We really really appreciate it!

The tech team is going to start working on RentSpace at the end of the week… So many people have been asking me about it.. Sorry for the delay, but we’re tied up putting some final usability tweaks to HomeSpace. That should be done by the end of this week, and then an alpha version of RentSpace should be out by the following week.

I’d like to thank our early beta testers for helping us sort out bugs and for giving us suggestions on how to improve. We’ve sorted out as much as possible in this short time frame and we’re finally launching our marketing campaign… From just  our little marketing “experiments” we’ve managed to garner about 40 signups in 24 hours and it doesn’t seem like its going to slow down. Look out Singapore, here we come! Thanks for all your support! We could not have done it without you.

We’re working on some cool features and are looking for talented software engineers who love what we’re doing and want to be part of the team. Drop a mail to vinod at homespace.sg and I’ll be in touch. 

I was once again chillin’ out with my advertising guru friend over beers and somehow (as always), we started talking about Mediacorp’s questionable strategy of spreading the Mocca brand.

 ”What the hell were they thinking?” was my approach to the matter and loving to play devil’s advocate, he pointed out that like it or not, their “all-out” advertising campaign was a huge success. Why so?

Let’s face it. Within a month from its launch, almost every Singaporean has come to know of Mocca.com. People either talk about it or shoot spoof videos of the muscle dude and post them on YouTube (go check them out). In a nutshell, top-of-mind recall was emminent and perhaps that was Mediacorp’s number one objective.

The flip side of the argument however, is that people don’t always talk about or remember Mocca.com in a positive way. No doubt there is top-of-mind recall, but what is the point of that if they don’t recall anything great about it? Countless forums speak of its bad marketing and countless people take a piss out of its silly ad concepts.

Mocca’s tv ads have also been focusing heavily on its video embedding capability. Visiting the website however shows no such ads that have embedded videos of ordinary folks advertising their wares. Is the market not ready for this feature? Did Mediacorp play too many cards at one shot too soon?

Perhaps the 1o min video in “The Ries Report” (http://www.riesreport.com/index.php?month=10) is enough to illustrate where Mediacorp went wrong in their marketing strategy. Al Ries (marketing guru) elaborates on the difference between a commonly used ”big-bang” approach versus a “slow build up” approach, and why waiting for the right time (tipping point) to advertise “all-out” will yield a much greater ROI.

Our conclusion: Mediacorp doesn’t have a baaaaaad product (though we love saying it). The only thing that was reeeeeeally bad was their timing. The moment Mocca.com was launched, they almost immediately blasted the whole Singapore 24/7 with advertisments that have only served to set expectations way high. When people went to the website and realized that “it ain’t that great”, credibilty fell. And everyone knows that when a new product emerges in the market and loses credibility from day one, it’s going to take a miracle to gain it back.

What they could have done was to simply sell the fact that people can now turn to an online classifieds platform as opposed to the traditional newspaper classifieds. That capability already sells itself. Afterwhich, they can then focus on selling their search function which should really be their back-bone core feature because the truth is, searching for an item over the newspaper classifieds really just sucks.

When they start to win over early adopters and the early majority (hence stabalizing their initial user-base), they can then execute their “all-out-blast-the-whole-Singapore” advertising approach, not just because they have the easy means to, but because by then, they would have had a more solid product and a stronger user-base to back up their claims. And over time, when the masses have further grown to accept and approve the website, market the video embedding feature, which by then, should result in a higher acceptance and adoption rate.

But with all that has been said and done, alas…it might already be too late for them…

We’ll see…