Sothebys International Realtys Apple deal attracts vast foreign interest in SA homes

More than 500 luxury South African properties are now being showcased to hundreds of millions of Apple users in the US, UK and Australia after the company secured an exclusive Real Estate Advertiser Deal with the newly launched Apple News.

Apple News is an application included on every Apple device running iOS9 or newer, which allows users to put all the news they want to read in one location. Users can customise their news feed by media outlets or channels like The New York Times, or by interests or topics, like real estate or home improvement.

Sotheby’s International Realty was the only real estate company selected to participate as an advertiser in the inaugural launch of the Apple News App and the exclusive deal runs until the end of the year.

Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty CEO, Jason Rohde, said that more than 530 South African properties are currently featured on www.sothebysrealty.com, the international site linked to the Apple News App.

“What this effectively means is that our properties have the potential eyes of close to 100m iPhone users in the US alone, according figures released in March this year by research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, and that’s not even counting the number of iPad users in the country.

“In the UK, according to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, Apple has increased its market share of smart phones to 42.5% of British sales, a growth of 12.2% year-on-year. That tells us without a doubt that Apple is the right platform for us and the right brand match with Sotheby’s International Realty,” said Rohde.

According to Sotheby’s International Realty, since the launch of Apple News, ads that have appeared in the Apple News feed have already become the third highest traffic-driver to the company’s international website.

Says Lew Geffen, chairman of Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty: “There isn’t a single real estate company in South Africa that can match this type of international exposure for its clients, especially at the luxury end of the market.

“It’s this international brand muscle that brings us such a vast number of foreign buyers for our clients. These buyers find that the exchange rate makes South Africa an extremely attractive investment prospect – especially when they’re seeking properties that could potentially earn an income for them down the line.”

Among the South African properties on offer on www.sothebysrealty.com are game reserves in Plettenberg Bay, internationally acclaimed wine estates, Atlantic Seaboard villas, luxury manor houses in upmarket Sandhurst in Gauteng, and rambling estates in Constantia.