Philippines property portal pockets cash from online classifieds specialist

donsimon / 123RF Stock Photo" width="750" height="500" />

High-rise condos, older apartment blocks, and landed housing in Manila’s Fort Bonifacio district. Photo credit: donsimon / 123RF Stock Photo.

Philippines-based online real estate portal Hoppler has received funding from Frontier Digital Group. The investment amount was not disclosed.

Southeast Asia has more than its fair share of sites that claim to provide a more efficient link between property vendors and prospective buyers. Hoppler aims to stand out in this crowded market by bringing professional real estate brokers into the equation.

As with most businesses in this space, Hoppler invites sellers and agents to list properties on its site, while allowing buyers to browse. Where it does things a little differently is when a buyer sees a listing they like, Hoppler puts them in touch with an individual broker who specializes in the neighborhood and property type they’re looking for.

This is meant to help would-be buyers avoid having to deal with multiple agents to view a variety of properties; instead, they will have the convenience of a single, dedicated broker.

Hoppler shares up to half of the sales commission that its partner brokers make on closing a transaction, and currently gets an average commission of US$2,000 in what it describes as “affluent areas in Manila.” Hoppler claims a 6 percent average close rate from the online leads it generates, compared to a 2 percent rate for non-Hoppler leads.

Frontier Digital said that Hoppler’s commission-based business model is similar to those of US real estate startups Compass and Redfin, indicating that these could also become competitors further down the line should their target markets end up overlapping.

Part of Malaysian investment group Catcha, Frontier Digital Ventures focuses on taking stakes in online classifieds companies and businesses operating in similar areas across the world’s emerging markets.

The firm said its investment in Hoppler “follows Frontier’s strategy of evolving its revenue mix to be closer to the transaction and partnering with local entrepreneurs.”