Acheter-Louer online turnover up 55 percent
French property portal and free magazine publisher Acheter-Louer reported that it’s overall turnover was up 16 percent on last year, but that the online side had risen 55 percent and now accounts for nearly a third of the company’s income. By comparison the press side of the business saw only a 3.6 percent rise.
In part this is a reflection of general trends in the market, but it is also the return on the company’s efforts in the digital sector, including digital direct marketing services for real estate agents.
According to the company, January 2012 is already looking good with 146 new contracts signed for clients online. Acheter-Louer is looking to expand its services this year notably with mobile products, but the full (and verifiable) figures won’t be published until the end of April.
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First French portal for building sites
In France SNAL (National Union of Planners and Developers) launched Snalterrains.com, the first French portal dedicated to available building sites.
According to SNAL (short for syndicat national des aménageurs-lotisseurs), the portal “is a unique location, where all sites on offer are brought together in a targeted way”. To help navigation, users have geo-locating functionality, which displays all listed sites on Google maps in plan and satellite view.
The portal was needed, because building sites are not normally listed on traditional real estate portals, SNAL said.
