The free mobile app created by Realestate.co.nz that gives users
real-time, location-aware information about homes for sale and rent
has now been downloaded over 100,000 times.

The milestone - reached this week - coincides with the release
today of the 2012 Nielsen Real Estate Market Report, which shows a
huge surge in homebuyers using mobile property search applications
on smartphones.

Realestate.co.nz CEO, Alistair Helm, says the report revealed that
27 per cent of homebuyers who responded to the survey have used a
property search mobile app in the last year, jumping up
significantly from just 7 per cent recorded in 2011.

Helm says the report also revealed that seven out of ten of those
homebuyers are using the Realestate.co.nz app.

"The significance of these two factors can’t be understated.
It shows the app is truly changing the way New Zealand home
shoppers look for and view homes, and how they interact with
property and agents whilst on the go."

The Realestate.co.nz app gives home shoppers a birds-eye view of
any area in New Zealand, showing properties that are for sale or
rent. By simply tapping on the ‘Near Me’ button,
browsers are taken to a street map that shows properties within a
one kilometre radius of their current location.

Helm says the app - available on both iOS for the iPhone and iPad
as well as Android devices - has become an essential accessory for
Kiwis searching for local properties for sale or rent. He is aware
of several buyers who have found and purchased their home for sale
solely through using the mobile app.

"Agents tell us that people are turning up to open homes guided by
the app with a schedule fully planned of where they are going and
what they are going to check out," says Helm.

"It is a growing trend that is going to have significant
ramifications for property marketing in New Zealand."

To celebrate the GPS-enabled app reaching the 100,000 downloads
milestone this week, Realestate.co.nz is running a nationwide
treasure hunt through the app, where users can win $5,000 worth of
prizes.

Three golden pins will be hidden on national
Realestate.co.nz’s listing map at a variety of locations
throughout the country. Clues to the locations will be given during
the competition on the Realestate.co.nz Facebook page and Twitter
feed.

The first person to find one of the pins wins a new iPad. Each
person that uncovers pins thereafter will go into a random prize
draw with mobile phones and hundreds of dollars worth of vouchers
to be won.