South African residential property platform Leadhome says it doubled its market share in 2020 despite the property market experiencing one of its toughest years in the past decade, and it aims to quadruple its agent roster this year as it eyes aggressive growth.
Launched in 2015, Leadhome is a tech-enabled real estate agency that uses innovative technology and real-time insights to make selling, renting and buying homes easier, faster and better.
Though the COVID-19 pandemic had a serious impact on the property market in 2020, Leadhome nonetheless doubled its market share, and it is now targeting a fruitful 2021. Chief executive officer (CEO) Marcél du Toit said the market had shown signs of renewed activity towards the end of 2020, and the South African Reserve Bank’s decision to keep interest rates low would further stimulate recovery in the market.
“At Leadhome, despite the trials and tribulations of 2020, we managed to double our market share nationally. We had our best December ever and we’re confident that our tech-driven approach will continue to pay off as buyers and sellers alike look to take as much face-to-face contact as possible out of property transactions,” he said.
While the COVID-19 pandemic had a “significant and lasting impact” on the South African residential property market, there were several positive trends emerging as consumers adjusted to a new reality of working from home, du Toit said. These include a growing move away from urban metros, and bigger houses with more space and rooms to accommodate new living and working arrangements.
“People who would previously have looked at areas close to business hubs like Sandton, Rosebank and Bank City are now casting their net further afield to properties outside urban metros, which are not only much cheaper, but offer far more space,” said du Toit.
he believes there will “definitely” be a lot more people immigrating in 2021 – and combined with a surge of distressed sellers entering the market as relief measures wind down, this could potentially create an over-supply of housing stock in certain sectors.
Leadhome’s bullish market outlook is reflected in its goal of growing its agent base this year from 50 to 200 agents countrywide.
