Juwai.com, an international real estate search and information portal for Mandarin-speaking Chinese consumers, has unveiled what it claims is the first mobile real estate app to allow Chinese buyers to surf international listings.
“Chinese consumers are increasingly affluent, motivated and mobile. Since our research shows that 92 percent of Chinese buyers visit a property before purchase, it makes sense to put the information they need, right in their hands, on their iPhone,” said Juwai.com co-CEO Andrew Taylor.
The introduction of the iPhone app marks the latest effort to further crack the door of international real estate investment open to Chinese buyers.
Last week, word broke of a deal between Juwai.com and listing syndicator Previsite that will let more than 200,000 agents market their listings on Juwai.com. And in late February, listing syndicator ListHub announced plans to feed U.S. listings to the Chinese real estate portal SouFun.
Agents and brokerages have increasingly targeted well-heeled Chinese buyers, whose ranks have surged in recent years. In each of the last four years, the number of high net worth Chinese individuals climbed 41 percent, and their numbers are expected to double by 2015, Juwai.com said.
According to the listing portal, the cohort is projected to allocate a total of $179 billion in overseas property.
The smartphone app’s features include:
- Location-based search that lets users pull up for-sale listings in their vicinity.
- Integration with popular Chinese social media app WeChat.
- The ability to contact listing agents or Juwai.com’s customer service through phone, message and email.
- Access to Juwai.com’s database of 2.4 million listings in 53 countries.
