Looking for property via Smartphone, trends, offers and prospects

Our project deals with the yet unchartered topic ìRelevance of Smartphone applications in the search for real estate in the German-speaking regionî. Market analyses assume rapid growth of the number of augmented reality applications. Hence, it is expected that there will also be an increase in the use of Smartphone applications in the real estate search. Since June 2010 two applications have been on the Austrian Market, of which one supports the Augmented Reality (AR). In both Germany and Switzerland there are numerous applications for real estate search by now. Our project analyses the quantity and structure of real estate search applications in German-speaking regions. Using qualitative methodology, it also provides a methodical comparison of applications available in Austria. The main criteria of product comparison are: operating system, correspondence of available information and real estate on offer, extent of provided information, application usability, the types of real estate on offer. Based on the results of our research, the project covers the structural, technological and user related factors that facilitate or impede dissemination of Smartphone applications for real estate search. Finally, it gives an overview of the market potential of ARapplications for real estate search via Smartphone. The result of the analysis suggests that usage of Smartphone applications depends on hard facts, i.e. predominance of iPhone operating systems iOS, as well as on soft facts, like usability. Currently, only 10% of real estate on offer in the only available application in Austria that supports augmented reality is geo-coded.