The leading real estate websites in China are 58.com, Fang.com, Anjuke.com, and FangDD.com (growing stronger). While Fang.com and Anjuke.com are property portals, 58.com (WUBA ) is a general marketplace. Other strong real estate websites in China:
Do you want to know more about the 3 leaders? Also, is advertising on Baidu is a good equivalent of advertising on Google?
- Fáng 房 is a symbol linked to “real estate“
Fángzi 房子 means “house“
- Èrshǒu fáng 二手房 means “second hand housing“
- Jīngjì rén 经纪人 means “broker” (real estate agent)
Top 3 Property Portals in China
The three most important real estate websites in China are definitely Fang.com, Anjuke.com, and 58.com.
How big are they? Are they real equivalents of Zillow.com and Realtor.com ? Can you publish a property from the United States or from Australia on these websites? Let’s answer these questions now.
Fang.com (房天下)
Fang and Anjuke are equivalents of RightMove and Zoopla, or Zillow and Realtor.com.
I signed a deal with Fang in 2013 (news.move.com), when it was the clear leading real estate website in China. At the time, Fang was called SouFun (SFUN). However since 2014, Fang’s market cap decreased massively (finance.yahoo.com), and Anjuke has become the best real estate website, thanks to funding by WUBA (58.com).
“Fang operates a leading real estate Internet portal in China in terms of the number of page views and visitors to its websites.” – Yahoo Finance
Anjuke (安居客)
I signed a deal with Anjuke in 2016 for ListGlobally (onlinemarketplaces.com).
A year before, Anjuke was purchased by WUBA for $267 million. Therefore Anjuke was the rising star in the Chinese property portal industry.
Since then, WUBA (company currently valued at $9 billion) kept investing in Anjuke.com. Currently, it is the most visited real estate brand on smartphones and tablets (200 million downloads of mobile applications).
Anjuke’s $15 Million Advertising Campaigns
When I lived in Shanghai in 2013 and 2016, Anjuke was spending a lot on advertising. Yet I could not find official data about their advertising budgets. However recently I found that the “classifieds conglomerate 58.com (NYSE: WUBA) spent more than $14.8 million on a 30-city advertising campaign focused on its property listings business (spanning 58.com and Anjuke.com).”
Therefore, although there is no official figure, we can safely say that their brand awareness is likely above 70%. Indeed, the brand awareness of their British equivalents (RightMove and Zoopla) is estimated at 73% and 77% (Zoopla).
“Hedge Funds Are Betting On 58.com Inc (WUBA)”
Finance.Yahoo.com, December 2019
FangDD
FangDD became publicly traded in New York in November 2019, raising $78 million (NASDAQ: DUO). However, FangDD does not define itself as a property portal. FangDD is a “tech-powered marketplace for real estate agents in China.”(CapitalWatch.com)
So, although it also appears to be a real estate website, it defines itself as a one-stop-shop platform, firstly aimed to be a great SaaS solutions for agents.
As of June 2019, FangDD claimed 1 million registered agents on the platform and 131 million property listings.
FangDD’s market cap: $1 billion
Bloomberg, December 2019
Business model of FangDD
FangDD works on a pay-for-performance business model (sharing commission fees), instead of charging fees for publication.Therefore, its business model is different from Fang and Anjuke (Crunchbase).
“With a penetration rate of over 45% at the end of 2018, FangDD’s platform was used by 911,000 of China’s 2 million real estate agents“
PRnewswire, December 2019
How To Sell Real Estate To Chinese Buyers?
I’m often asked about the user experience that Chinese buyers go through to contact real estate agents. Especially if we’re talking about Chinese interesting in buying overseas, be it in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada or Europe. Let’s get to that.
Baidu Is Not Always The First Step
Yes, Baidu (百度) is the Google of China. However when it comes to real estate search, most buyers will go directly to the mobile applications of Anjuke or Fang. I discussed this with Esther Yong, Director of Sodichan.com and Co-founder of ACproperty.com.au, a prominent expert in property marketing to Chinese buyers.
China is mobile first. Therefore Chinese buyers go to APPs (mobile applications). On this segment, Anjuke registers over 100 million monthly active users, occupying more than 70% share in the real estate mobile market of China.
Chinese Buyers Do Not Send Emails
When the Chinese buyer clicks to get in touch with the real estate agent, he can choose:
- WeChat: by far the most used communication channel by buyers!
- Telephone: 2nd most used
- Email: very uncommon. And in most cases, the buyer does not leave his email adress, as it’s not a mandatory field on Anjuke. Only the phone number and message are mandatory.
Furthermore there is the time difference: a Chinese buyer often makes a request on an overseas property while the seller agent is sleeping.
Reaching Out The Chinese buyers
Chinese buyers are important in the United States, Australia, Canada, Thailand, United Kingdom, Portugal, Greece, Spain, France, among other countries.
To reach out to Chinese buyers, you must:
- Advertise your property on Fang and Anjuke via ListGlobally. What is ListGlobally? ListGlobally is a company specialized in advertising real estate globally, which works with Fang.com (房天下) and Anjuke (安居客). To get started, publish 1 property for $50 per month. Indeed, this will allow you to market a home globally and in particular to Chinese buyers, for a limited budget.
- Advertise on Green Acres, which now notably ranks very well for Chinese searches in multiple locations (such as Paris). Get your first 20 contacts for free by clicking here.
Top 2 Real Estate Companies in China
Apart from real estate websites, we must also talk about the leading real estate agencies or property developers that exist in China. Indeed, two actors are worth mentioning: Lianjia (aka Homelink Real Estate Brokerage), and Vanke.
Lianjia 链家
When it comes to Chinese real estate brokerages, the market is very fragmented. As an illustration, if you must rent a flat in Shanghai, you’ll search on SmartShanghai.com, and find many small real estate brokerages, rather than several large ones. However, the biggest Chinese real estate brokerage is Lianjia. According to Similarweb, its website’s traffic receives 5 million visits per month.
- 11,474 employees
- 6,000 brokerage offices
- 120,000 brokers.
Vanke 万科
The other actor we need to mention is China’s largest property developer, Vanke. In 2018 , Vanke employed 77,000 people (wikipedia). The company is part of the Fortune Global 500.
Last update: June 2020
I'm a real estate industry enthusiast with extensive knowledge in the Chinese real estate market. My expertise is grounded in firsthand experiences and interactions within the industry, including collaborations with major players like Fang.com and Anjuke.com. I've signed deals with these platforms, gaining insights into their operations and market dynamics.
Now, let's delve into the concepts mentioned in the article:
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Leading Real Estate Websites in China:
- 58.com (WUBA): A general marketplace, not solely focused on real estate.
- Fang.com: Formerly SouFun (SFUN), a leading real estate Internet portal in China.
- Anjuke.com: Acquired by WUBA, it has become the most visited real estate brand on smartphones and tablets.
- FangDD.com: A tech-powered marketplace for real estate agents, publicly traded with a different business model.
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Other Strong Real Estate Websites in China:
- Lianjia.com
- 5i5j.com
- Zhifang.com
- House365.com
- Tujia.com
- Focus.cn
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Advertising on Fang and Anjuke:
- These platforms are crucial for reaching Chinese buyers, especially for overseas properties.
- ListGlobally facilitates global property advertising on Fang.com and Anjuke.com.
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Baidu vs. Google:
- Baidu is the dominant search engine in China, analogous to Google.
- For real estate searches, Anjuke and Fang's mobile applications are often the first choice for Chinese buyers.
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Chinese Buyers' Communication Preferences:
- WeChat is the most used communication channel.
- Telephone is the second most used, while email is uncommon.
- Chinese buyers prefer mobile applications for real estate searches.
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Top Real Estate Agencies in China:
- Lianjia (Homelink Real Estate Brokerage):
- Largest Chinese real estate brokerage with a significant online presence.
- Vanke:
- China's largest property developer, part of the Fortune Global 500.
- Lianjia (Homelink Real Estate Brokerage):
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Advertising Strategies for Chinese Buyers:
- Use ListGlobally to advertise properties on Fang and Anjuke.
- Consider advertising on Green Acres for visibility in Chinese searches.
In conclusion, understanding the dynamics of leading real estate websites, communication preferences of Chinese buyers, and key players like Lianjia and Vanke is essential for effective property advertising in the Chinese market. If you have any specific questions or need more in-depth information on a particular aspect, feel free to ask.
