Users of the Zillow app on iPhones and iPads are now able to search property sale and rental listings in a seamless, synchronous experience with family and friends, or a real estate agent.

Collaborative shopping is enabled by the new feature for FaceTime called SharePlay. During a FaceTime call, users can start a SharePlay session to search together, explore maps and view listing photo galleries in sync on Apple mobile devices.

David Beitel, Zillow’s Chief Technology Officer, said: "Whether you're shopping for a home or a rental, this new feature makes it easier and a lot more fun.”

"The ability to browse together on separate mobile phones allows people to take their Zillow surfing to the next level. It's also a great new way for real estate agents to connect with customers and guide them in their home-shopping journeys."

According to customer research, 86% of Zillow users reported shopping with a partner, spouse or housemate. That's why Zillow provides tools that make shopping with others simple, such as the Shopping Partner feature, which allows each user to see another's saved homes and tags on the "saved homes" tab.

SharePlay powers collaboration that happens in real time and allows input from loved ones that can help buyers winnow their options and save time.

Home shoppers, especially millennials, value input from others. Zillow research found most millennial and Generation Z home shoppers say they discuss their housing decisions with parents (71%) and friends (61%).

Among millennials and Gen Z homeowners, a majority say they chose not to buy a particular home because of the opinion of a significant other (60%) or a parent (54%).

"This new feature is the perfect addition to the suite of technology-based tools — which includes Zillow 3D Home tours and interactive floor plans — Zillow provides to help make people's moving journey easier, less stressful and more fun," added Beitel.

Clickalia, which was formed in 2018 by Alister Moreno and Pablo Fernandez, said this latest investment will provide it with access to more than 250,000 residential properties.

Los Angeles-based venture capital firm Fifth Wall drove the equity financing, which included Luxor Capital and Mouro Capital. Deutsche Bank also provided more than $440 million in debt financing.

Fifth Wall is also an investor in Opendoor as well as Loft, a Latin American real estate tech unicorn.

Despite its recent, much-publicised troubles, the ‘iBuyer’ business model has proved to be popular in Europe. Clickalia has purchased more than 1,800 properties and employs 600 people, It has also acquired a property management company to further expand its operations.

Currently, Clikalia will provide property sellers with an offer within 24-hours, and if accepted a sale within just seven days. According to the company it will renovate the home and re-market with the goal of using digital solutions to achieve a faster sale.

Miguel Nigorra, Partner and Head of Europe for Fifth Wall, said his firm was impressed by the founding team, which had a previous successful exit as well as the market opportunity, as well as the company’s “amazing” unit economics and metrics “compared to many other companies in the market.”

He said: “The Spanish market is one of the largest markets in Europe when it comes to residential real estate — with the equivalent of over 300,000 transactions per year.”

“It’s a massive market, and the process of selling a home in Europe and Spain specifically is extraordinarily time consuming, expensive and inconvenient.”

We’re excited about the technology angle Clikalia is bringing to a very old fashioned vertical in the real estate market.”

The country’s National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) also levied fines of five real estate firms, and alleged these companies used a Multiple Listings System (MLS) to allow users to share properties captured under a shared exclusive agreement.

In a statement, Idealista stressed that the CNMC did not point to them agreeing commissions but, on the contrary, confirmed what the firm had always defended:

It said the object of the investigation that the CNMC began almost two years ago has nothing to do with the use of malicious algorithms to manipulate prices.

“At no time does the CMNC state that Idealista established, influenced or altered the prices nor the commercial conditions of the properties that are advertised in it”, but rather “expressly recognised that Idealista is a company that does not operate directly in the real estate brokerage market.”

The franchisors who developed this MLS system approved a mandatory regulation for real estate users that required a minimum commission of 4% on sales and one month on rents. It also imposed a 50% commission distribution between the property’s capturing office and the one that closed the transaction. Breaking these rules could lead to disciplinary sanctions and even the suspension of associate status.

The implementation of software that allowed tracking of real estate fees captured from competitors, and access to sensitive information among them, made it possible to ensure the application of the system in the real estate market, which is characterised by being atomised on the supply and demand side.

Consequently, both regulations and software developments limited competition between real estate companies by establishing minimum commissions and other commercial conditions, and generating a level of transparency incompatible with the necessary competition between entities.

Those entities that were not willing to accept the anti-competitive rules contained in the regulations were excluded from the benefits of the MLS system.

The investigation focused on the legality of the agreements between specific agencies to supposedly set minimum service commissions in sales transactions, and on the use they made of three real estate software, among them Tools, the Idealista software.

“The CNMC considered that Tools, like the other real estate software, is mere ‘necessary collaborators or facilitators’, but in no case did it link the software with the creation of the platform or with the alleged setting of commission prices. Tools was only penalised for configuring and facilitating a filter, not even for the general use that agencies make of this software “, the authority stated.

They also clarified why the portal received the lowest penalty in percentage terms.

It said: “The amount of 730,000 Euros which the CNMC sanctions Idealista is the result of applying the lowest percentage to idealista’s billing, the highest of the investigated companies.”

Other fines were issued to Remax, Inmovilla, Look & Find, Witei and Anaconda totaling 511,000 (US$ 574,000).

Christian Taubman, Chief Growth Officer at Redfin, suggested that all real estate websites should refrain from what he suggested is inaccurate information.

In a recent blog post, he wrote: “We recently decided not to add neighbourhood crime data to Redfin.com. We were considering this because we’re very much focused on answering all the questions people have when they’re considering a home purchase, and we know that one of these questions is whether they’ll feel safe in a given home or neighbourhood.”

“But the data available don’t allow us to speak accurately to that question, and given the long history of redlining and racist housing covenants in the United States there’s too great a risk of this inaccuracy reinforcing racial bias.”

He noted that Redfin has learned, through its research, that there’s real variety in how people define and evaluate safety, and that it doesn’t align with purely crime-based data.

“When we surveyed people about what they want to know about a neighbourhood, they define safety in a number of different ways: people say they care whether there’s trash on the street, care solely about violent crime, or care whether they are going to frequently see people who are homeless.”

He said that even if you use crime as an indicator of safety, there are reasons to doubt the usefulness of the data available.

“Most crimes in the United States go unreported, and most reported crimes go unsolved. The fact that most crimes are missing creates a real possibility that the crimes that show up in the data set skew one way or another. And the fact that most reported crimes go unsolved means that some of the crimes being reported in fact may not be crimes. If you’re extracting data at the neighborhood level, the risk of these gaps leading to inaccuracy becomes high.”

He added that to get around the gaps with reported crimes, the main other data source we considered was the National Crime Victimization Survey from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

By virtue of being a survey, this has the advantage of being able to capture both officially reported and unreported crimes. However, also by virtue of being a survey, if there’s racial bias in respondents’ answers this will get reflected directly in the data, he wrote.

“People are hungry for more information to answer their real estate questions, and Redfin will continue to add more and more data to help with that.”

“Each and every time we add data to Redfin.com we will consider the accuracy and likely impact of that change. Sometimes that will result in us deciding not to add data to the site, and sometimes that will result in us deciding to add the data. In this case we’re confident that the crime data that are available today ought not to be on Redfin or any other real estate site."

David Doctorow, Chief Executive Officer of Realtor.com, also wrote that earlier this month that his portal had removed the crime map layer to rethink the safety information it shares, and how it can best be integrated as part of the property search experience.

He said: “In the weeks and months ahead, we plan to examine closely what neighbourhood safety means for buyers and renters who use our site, so we can reimagine how we integrate safety data on Realtor.com.

“Our goal is to ensure we are providing consumers with the most valuable, fair and accurate neighbourhood data so they can make informed decisions about where they want to rent or purchase their next home.”

He added that his portal has been working hard to break down the hurdles of gender, sexual orientation and religion, to create a level real estate playing field.

“As a relative newcomer to the real estate industry, I’ve been struck by how entrenched this problem is. Stories abound about Black, Hispanic and Asian homebuyers receiving unequal treatment, starting with their ability to see whatever homes they like, and continuing through to the appraisal and mortgage processes. At virtually every step of the way, too often people of color find hurdles in their path, making it difficult to turn their dreams of home ownership into reality.”

He said that we cannot let more years go by and accept the same inequities to persist in our industry.

“Consider this an open invitation to senior leaders in real estate to come together to agree on meaningful ways to address fair housing in our country. Of course, we can’t solve a problem overnight that’s been centuries in the making. But together, we can make a tangible difference in the lives of many people in the years ahead.”

The ten-week, multi-channel campaign will go live on December 20, and the portal is hoping it will result in a 28.5% uplift in visits to its website. Its messages will target high intent audiences looking to move in the next few years, with the goal of driving more valuable leads to its real estate agents

The campaign launch follows a bumper year for the United Kingdom’s property market. Zoopla said more than a fifth of British households are ‘more eager’ to move as a result of the pandemic, and that its marketing campaign will capitalise on this unprecedented demand.

Zoopla customers will benefit from its increased media buying power as a result of consolidating its media buying brief with sister companies USwitch and Confused.com. This will enable Zoopla to benefit from cost savings and increase its consumer marketing spend.

The portal has revealed it will resurrect its two successful 30-second television adverts, ‘Bricks and Mortar’ and ‘Neighbours’, which evokes Zoopla’s understanding of how the pandemic has led to a reassessment of home for many.

For the first time, the adverts will also highlight Zoopla’s search functionality and will as a result, drive consumers to find their next home on Zoopla.

The adverts will air across popular prime-time television programmes, and across a breadth of media channels, including YouTube, VOD, display and social media. It will also be using TikTok for the first time.

Gary Bramall, Zoopla’s Chief Marketing Officer, explained: “Home movers have reassessed what they want and need from a home as a result of the pandemic. The launch of our new marketing campaign is an opportunity to connect them to homes that fulfil their criteria while surfacing available stock our agents are listing on Zoopla.”

“After a record year for the property market, we wanted to launch the campaign ahead of Christmas to give agents a fast start in 2022 and set them up for success. We’re poised to nudge these eager movers to make their move, and in turn, this will drive valuable leads to agents.”

Zoopla is the second-ranked property portal in the United Kingdom.

The deal, in the form of a share exchange, will see the Tokyo-based company acquire full ownership of the property rental and leasing business of Bangkok-based Dear Life Corporation, which according to a statement has 12,000 users.

This will be GA’s first step in expanding its business into Southeast Asia, and one of its aims is to introduce real estate opportunities to more potential buyers.

A press release to announce the deal noted that both companies enjoy significant market shares in their respective markets.

Dear Life provides real estate and support services to Japanese residents and expats in Thailand. It also provides services to property owners to help them manage their properties.

Japanese nationals form one of the largest percentages of non-Thai nationals in the Kingdom. Thailand is also home to the fourth largest population of Japanese people outside Japan.

Koichiro Ando, Chief Executive Officer of Dear Life, said: “I have a lot of hope regarding the market potential in Thailand, along with the increase in population and average salary. The Thai government is taking an active strategy in attracting affluent foreigners.”

“There are still many things that need to be fixed regarding the structure of the nation's real estate industry, including the procedures of property management and the administration process; even online transactions, things that are common in Japan are not the case in Thailand.”

He added that it is obvious that the number of foreign residents moving into Thailand, and the growth of the economy will continue.

"It is important that we bring the technology into the play to cope with the changes and to provide more sophisticated services with high additional business values.”

Ryo Higuchi, Chief Executive Officer of GA technologies, added: "We have been cultivating in the digital transformation area since the founding of our business.  Creating a world-leading company through the power of technology and innovation has always been the business vision we uphold as always. To expand our business into Southeast Asia, a region with huge potential for growth, is a strategy that is necessary for the growth of our business"

"I truly admire the courage of Mr. Ando who has to start his business from zero by himself in another country. feel very excited and positive about the future of our company and our business."

The deal was approved by board and shareholder meetings of both companies last month, with the deal set to be concluded during 2022.

Adam Kamani, who is also co-founder of fashion website PrettyLittleThing, has named Apadmi as MoveStreets’ development partner

MoveStreets is a 'swipe right to like' app which, the company claimed, has already matched more than 70,000 people with a property to buy or to let.

Kamani has pledged a £5m technology investment and selected fellow Manchester-based company Apadmi as MoveStreets’ development partner. It will focus on iOS and Android app development.

Joining Chief Executive Officer Kamani will be Craig Burton as Chief Operating Officer and Mahesh Patel as Chief Financial Officer.

Mr Burton has led operations and technology divisions from start-ups through to global organisations for more than 25 years.

He said: "The MoveStreets app is improving the way that homebuyers and renters search for property – it’s simple, it’s easy and it’s fun.”

"We came to market with the first 'swipe right' property app, but the potential to grow, disrupt and add more and more new features provides even greater opportunity to be truly innovative. Of course, this is not something that traditional property portals are exactly renowned for.

"We are impressed with Apadmi’s digital product credentials, their impressive client portfolio and clear passion for mobile technology. And it was a bonus to find a Manchester-based partner that aligns with our own values of quality and speed."

Garry Partington, Chief Executive Officer, said that his compay  is delighted to be partnering with MoveStreets to create digital products that truly innovate.

"MoveStreets is the perfect example of a company that is empowering users and appealing to a new generation of house hunters to make searching for property fun and fast, and we are truly excited to be partnering with them," he added.

Smartsearch is now integrated with Alto, Zoopla’s cloud-based software offering for real estate agents. The digital solution provides customer verification without the need for physical documentation.

It uses public information and credit agency records to create a digital identity, meaning that Alto customers are protected against fraud, and comply with the United Kingdom’s tough money laundering laws.

Andy Marshall, Chief Commercial Officer at Zoopla added: “The customer experience is imperative to Alto’s functionality. Designed to deliver a seamless service to our agent partners who use Alto, this integration with SmartSearch is a real milestone on our journey.

He added that Zoopla been very impressed by the ease of use of the SmartSearch system.

"It provides a one-stop-shop for our anti-money laundering checks and the searches can be completed in seconds, providing a big benefit to our customers.”

John Dobson, Chief Executive Officer of SmartSearch, said that it is essential for everyone involved in property transactions to be sure they are using the latest technology to prevent money laundering and fraud.

“Criminals are using cutting-edge technology to create fraudulent documents and it’s imperative that everyone involved in the property purchase process is using the most effective methods to prevent money laundering," he said.

SmartSearch is a leading U.K. provider of anti-money-laundering software. Its anti-money-laundering verification platform conducts individual and business searches with automatic worldwide sanction and PEP screening. It is the only organisation in the U.K. with the ability to verify individuals and companies in the U.K. and internationally all in a single platform via a browser or API, with full Sanction, PEP and adverse media screening, and then ongoing monitoring.

In a statement the company said its combined branch and new homes development figures now standing at a record 19,913, claiming it now has more rental listings than any other major U.K. portal.

Following heavy investment in app improvements, it has also reported that leads to agents via the app are up 45% year-on-year, with valuation leads up 42%.

It said there has also been a 34% increase of sessions on the app, driven by enhancements including a trigger email to website users to encourage them to download the app, and a call to action on the home screen encouraging users to check their updated house price estimate.

This news follows the launch of Zoopla’s landmark Vision at the beginning of 2021 which reaffirmed its commitment to maximising commercial opportunities for customers, and the launch of new innovations including My Home and In-Search ads, both of which strive to improve the quality of leads delivered to agents.

Zoopla said it has been working behind the scenes to improve the consumer search experience and deliver higher quality leads. New features to Zoopla’s map experience include property pins that display prices, increase the visibility of premium and featured properties, and a ‘tap and swipe’ carousel to browse listings.

These changes, it said, have resulted in a 225% increase in the number of saved properties across the site, and a substantial increase in valuation leads.

It reported a significant increase in view to lead conversions across available sales and rental listings, highlighting how it is surfacing listings to consumers that match their needs. This ‘appropriateness’ metric has increased by 110% for sales listings and 173% for rental listings in the year-to-date, it said.

Adreach, Zoopla’s retargeting tool, has continued to deliver a tangible return-on-investment for housebuilder customers. The portal said that AdReach alone has boosted lead volumes to housebuilders by 44% compared with last year - and those leads are proven to be high quality, with 63% of consumers self-identifying as warm leads - home finders who are looking to move in the next six months.

Alto - a core pillar of its software proposition - has also undergone an evolution with improvements to its email templating system, giving customers full control over the look and feel of their emails. Alto has also integrated with SmartSearch, the leading AML check provider to streamline the process for agents, enabling them to meet legal requirements quickly and easily.

Andy Marshall, Zoopla’s Chief Commercial Officer, said: “It’s been a bumper year for the property market with the volume of market activity at its highest since 2007. It’s also been a year of strategic advancement for Zoopla, with the launch of our ‘Vision’ paving the way for a new look and feel Zoopla that makes us more than just a portal, and instead an unequivocal end-to-end partner that strives to galvanise the market and grow the category for customers.”

“We’ve made some great strides this year and, with plenty more innovation in the pipeline for 2022 and beyond, I’m looking forward to driving even more value for our customers and supporting them to reach their goals over the coming year.”

The cash injection provides Lazudi with the capital to deploy technology to simplify the home buying and selling process, which comes at the right time as Thailand’s property market gets ready for growth following the easing of travel restrictions.

The deal with Stockholm-based PropTech Farm puts Lazudi at the forefront of digital innovation in the Thai property market, by using technology to move more of the property transaction process online.

Costa Savva, the Co-Founder & Managing Director of Lazudi, said: “The past few years have helped accelerate consumers acceptance of digital resources to make better, more informed decisions for purchasing property. Virtual tours, 360 immersive walkthroughs and digital agreements are all now playing a regular part of the ‘New Normal’  buying process,”

“In much more developed markets consumers are already completing the full process online and we plan to implement similar technologies here in Thailand.”

Following the principles of e-commerce, the Lazudi cloud-based platform works for buyers, tenants and agents, by smoothing the posting, marketing of inventory, and providing increased transparency for buyers and sellers during the transaction process while slashing the onerous back-office paperwork and admin for real estate agents.

Fredrik Bergman, the CEO & Co-Founder of PropTech Farm, said: “The PropTech landscape has evolved over the last few years. Historically, it has been an industry slow to go digital. More and more online solutions are now available, but little has reached the Thai market which remains very fragmented and primarily offline, heavy on admin with little transparency for consumers.”

He said the investment into Lazudi plans to change this for both agents and end consumers.

Hundreds of millions of dollars of venture capital has poured into global PropTech in recent years, seeing the vast potential to transform the way the world’s biggest asset class is managed and this new investment round shows that there is significant interest in the industry in Thailand.

PropTech Farm brings an amalgamation of property and digital expertise, investing in entrepreneurs ready to disrupt the sector and is specifically seeking out partners in Southeast Asia.

Lazudi founders Costa Savva, Neil Sutton and Ben Neve bring a wealth of property, tech and management experience, gained while founding, growing and exiting startups such as Thailand’s leading property portal, DotProperty.