Putting property online is turning into a good business move for at least one estate agent, with seven-figure properties being sold to overseas buyers site unseen.
Pam Golding Properties says it sold about R90 million of residential property on leads generated through the Internet in the first six months this year. That is already double the value of online leads for the entire 2001.
Total sales for the six months amounted to around R3.3 billion.
"The growth of sales via the Internet is phenomenal," says CEO Andrew Golding.
The company has found that high value properties attract online attention; its highest recorded sale through an online lead was an R8 million property in Somerset West. The average price of property sold through online leads was R650 000.
It also says foreign buyers are increasingly using online facilities. "Approximately half the inquiries we receive to purchase properties via our Web site are from offshore, with sales of properties site unseen becoming a fairly regular occurrence," says Pam Golding referral manager Gail Paul.
One property was sold for R3.5 million without the buyer seeing it. That property was in the Boland, an area the company says is seeing a steady increase in Internet-sourced sales.
Pam Golding offers a "virtual tour" service on high-value properties on which it holds sole mandate.
The online market for business property rental also saw a new entrant today, with Business Day online announcing a partnership with Compuspace. The Compuspace.co.za database of available premises, of which it boasts more than 10 000, is now available through an interface on the Business Day Web site.
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