Homely and REIWA Form Partnership to Take on Australian Big Two

Australian property portals Homely and REIWA have issued a press release announcing that they have entered into a partnership to syndicate listings and data between their two sites. Under the terms of the agreement, REIWA's listings will automatically appear on Homely's site, and Homely's street and suburb review data will appear on REIWA.

The partnership between up and coming Homely, which has a good coverage and audience at a national level, and the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia, which has a great deal of influence in Western Australia, makes a lot of strategic sense for both parties who by pooling resource will be looking to take on the hegemony of Domain and Realestate.com.au.

Commenting on the partnership, David Webb, Homely’s Head of Industry said:

“we’re so excited to share the details of our new partnership with REIWA, who own reiwa.com, one of the largest property portals in WA. We’re confident that working directly with the institute will allow us to considerably improve our offering for our consumers and agents in the state REIWA has done such an amazing job at building goodwill and capturing a significant following in the WA real estate market. We want to help them and their members take their capability to the next level by facilitating their access to buyers and renters on a national scale.”

In Australia unlike in other markets, the vendor is ultimately responsible for the cost of portal listings and the partnership announced today will give more exposure to vendor listings and allow REIWA agents to promote their clients' properties to a much bigger audience, a fact alluded to by REIWA CEO Neville Pozzi:

“The partnership will provide many benefits, including new initiatives that will help members in their day-to-day activities. The automatic inclusion of REIWA members’ reiwa.com listings on the Homely portal will significantly increase the exposure of their properties for sale and rent to both national and international property seekers.”

“The opportunity to take greater control of the real estate portal space has been a key driver for REIWA to enter this partnership, which will provide members with a viable alternative to promote client listings.”

With the latest indications from REA Group being that the domestic Australian property market may be in for an uptick after a few years in the doldrums, the competition down under is set to intensify further still with today's alliance announcment.