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Australia’s portal space now has one less player following the sale of an industry-owned listings website.
Real Estate Institute of Queensland chairman Rob Honeycombe announced that the institute had sold its three-year-old portal, REIQ.com, to realestateVIEW (REV).
Mr Honeycombe told members in an email that many had been loyal supporters of REIQ.com and its attempt to provide an alternative to the power held by the major sites.
However, he added that it had “become increasingly obvious this was a battle we could not wage alone”.
REV gets content from every real estate institute in Australia, while its shareholders include the Victorian, NSW and Tasmanian institutes.
Mr Honeycombe said REIQ.com would continue to function for several months and that all its listings would initially be duplicated to REV at no charge.
“REIQ members will enjoy discounted listing rates and we’ll be working closely with the REV team to support the site in Queensland,” he said.
“REV already has an impressive public audience in Queensland, and when your listings are added in coming weeks we believe the site will truly provide that viable and strong, national presence in the portal marketplace that members asked us to pursue.”
Mr Honeycombe said REIQ had decided to sell the portal after members revealed that they wanted the institute to stick to its strengths and deliver better value.
“Financially, the REIQ is now in its best shape for some time. There have been some tough recent years and the institute’s pursued some expensive projects,” he said.
“But the decisions we’ve made in recent months, the changes we’ve made with your input, have already turned the organisation’s fortunes around. With your ongoing support, the institute’s financial future is looking strong.”
[Related: REV property app registrations forecast to triple in 2015]
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