PropertyGuru grows data analytics, generative AI tools aimed at real estate industry 

NEW York-listed PropertyGuru Group, which started as an online property listings portal, is widening its offerings as a proptech company.

Developers and managers of real estate investment trusts (Reits) will soon have access to insights on the footfall, dwell time and demographics of the shoppers who visit their malls, with the help of an analytics tool developed by the group. 

The Mall Intelligence Module was launched in January, and is expected to track performance across nearly 200 malls by the end of 2024. 

Speaking to The Business Times, Hari Krishnan, chief executive officer and managing director of PropertyGuru, said: “It gives you a sense then what kind of retail mix you need to have if you’re a mall operator. Are you maximising your potential? Have you got the mix correct? This becomes very valuable insights for mall operators and owners.”

“You’re also able to understand how your model performs versus other malls that you may be competing with for footfall or traffic,” he added. “These kinds of insights give you a sense of the future for PropertyGuru. We are able to bring our insights together to help people make informed decisions.”

The Mall Intelligence Module will open up “an entire new customer segment” for PropertyGuru, Krishnan said. 

He hopes to take PropertyGuru’s market insights, intelligence and software solutions to Reits, urban planners and state governments across its markets in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and eventually Thailand.

PropertyGuru posted a narrower net loss of S$6.3 million for the first quarter ended March, compared with a S$10.2 million net loss in the same period last year.

Revenue for the quarter rose 11.9 per cent to S$36.5 million, from S$32.6 million year ago, on the back of strong growth in the Singapore marketplace segment. 

Basic loss per share for the period stood at S$0.04, compared with S$0.06 loss per share in the year-ago period.

When asked about PropertyGuru’s layoffs earlier this year, Krishnan said: “I think a lot of other companies were cutting for cost-cutting reasons. We were very clear that we are re-architecting the business – that means we’re changing how and where we work.”

For instance, PropertyGuru had a technology centre in Thailand but it decided to exit it and concentrate its engineering teams in other locations, Krishnan said. Two branch offices in Vietnam were shut down because the country manager decided the offices “weren’t getting the efficiencies we needed”.

“We’re still very bullish on Vietnam and Singapore,” Krishnan said. “But... right now, economic conditions are tough. And we have to bring our investments in line with the size of the opportunity that we have over the next 12 to 24 months.”

The use of technology products, in particular generative artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, is what Krishnan is excited about. 

In 2023, PropertyGuru launched its generative AI tool to help property agents craft listings. Krishnan noted that 90 per cent of its agents have used the product as at Q4 2023, and 75 per cent are repeat users.

“That’s an example of a product and the kind of investment we put into our agents. And because every agent makes this decision with their own wallet, that is why PropertyGuru has this kind of market share,” he said. 

Still room to grow

In Singapore, PropertyGuru has about 81 per cent of market share in terms of average monthly engagement for its website. Its market share is 82 per cent in Vietnam and 93 per cent in Malaysia.

Even so, Krishnan does not consider PropertyGuru as having reached saturation. 

“If you look at our business from a revenue perspective, it’s not saturated, it’s still growing north of 20 per cent year on year,” he said. 

While Krishnan recognises that cost of living is a consideration in Singapore, especially given higher interest rates, he believes prices will start dropping. 

“Real estate is the largest thing that anyone is going to spend money on. And so people are going to be deliberate about it,” he said. 

While Vietnam was a challenging market for PropertyGuru last year, with revenue falling 29 per cent to S$17 million from the year-ago period, Krishnan is optimistic this year.

A corruption crackdown in Vietnam took a toll on the country’s property market over the past few years, as developers faced a liquidity crunch and consumer sentiment plummeted. 

“We are going into 2024 with optimism, but it will take a while for it to fully bounce back” because of the measures’ impact, Krishnan noted.

“People don’t want to lose their life savings, it’s understandable. But I think the (signals) from the Vietnamese government are very positive, they want the real estate sector to move,” he added. “It’s a country with almost 100 million people. It’s going to have growth for decades to come. So while 2023 was a challenge for us, we still remain very invested in that market.”

Another area of opportunity for the group is its mortgage marketplace PropertyGuru Finance.

Krishnan said: “As a market leader, it’s your responsibility to build the future of the industry. When our consumers were coming to us, they were looking for better options for home financing.”

PropertyGuru Finance brokered more than S$2 billion worth of home loans in Q1 2022, which increased to S$4 billion a year later in Q1 2023, and eventually reached over S$6 billion by end-2023.

Krishnan added: “The consumers trust us to be a neutral party, to work with all the major banks to provide the best solutions for them and to provide a digital experience.” 

Providing options and transparency also motivated PropertyGuru to acquire Sendhelper – an online platform that connects households in Singapore with verified home service providers – in 2022. 

Krishnan said: “One thing we don’t have in Singapore is someone who guarantees the quality of the experience. A lot of vendors will come and do cleaning. If you think about how do you discover it, (it’s) probably word of mouth, (through) your friends, your uncle and your parents.”

However, like how travellers do not just rely on word-of-mouth to book a hotel when they are on holiday but check on platforms such as Expedia and TripAdvisor, Krishnan hopes PropertyGuru can provide the same experience for home services.

Krishan said: “The idea is that whether you’re looking for a place, whether you are looking to finance the place or you’re looking to just maintain the place, PropertyGuru should have solutions for you.”

The group, however, does not see itself as “becoming everything for everyone”.

“We are very much focused on the real estate sector, and serving only the markets we operate in. We’re not interested in scaling and being ‘so-so’ everywhere. We would much rather be a compelling solution.”