AFG has teamed up with realestate.com.au to launch a new home loan tool, which will be integrated on the realestate.com.au website today.
In an Australian first, the tool is integrated into property searches, presenting loan options available through AFG from a range of lenders that are potentially available to a consumer at the same time as they view properties.
The home loan tool appears within each property details page near the listed price of the property, commencing with a pilot program in Victoria.
On interaction with the tool, users are presented with a range of loans available through AFG’s panel of more than 30 lenders (based on the listed property price).
Users can then customise these options by property price, deposit amount, payment term and payment frequency which then alters the home loan information provided by AFG. After reviewing the options available through AFG, users can request an AFG broker to contact them at a convenient time.
According to realestate.com.au chief digital officer, Henry Ruiz, more and more users were demanding more information about home loans when searching for property online, so the partnership made sense.
“realestate.com.au is the ‘go to’ place for all things property so it makes perfect sense for us to grow into markets adjacent to real estate. With 80% of property seekers wanting information about home loans when they visit our site, it was a natural progression for us to introduce this service to consumers,” he said.
“Our research also showed that two-thirds of property seekers secure finance before they look for property, while one third will secure finance after they find their property. As realestate.com.au wants to make the property process easier for all Australians, it made sense for us to try to make this vital, and often stressful part of the experience, easier for them.”
In addition, Ruiz said that the user testing showed that when people used the new home loan tool showing AFG’s home loan product information, it drove their confidence in their property search.
AFG’s general manager sales and operations, Mark Hewitt said the aggregator is excited to be partnering with realestate.com.au to make the home loan process simpler and more efficient for home buyers.
“Australians live on realestate.com.au, and when they’re ready to buy, we want to be there to help them make the right decisions when it comes to their mortgage finance. With realestate.com.au being Australia’s leading property portal, and AFG’s 2300 brokers having access to an extensive lender panel with more than 1450 financial products, we believe the new home loan tool on realestate.com.au will give consumers a great experience,” he said.
According to audience analytics conducted by Nielsen for realestate.com.au, the website is visited by a unique audience of around 3 million Australian’s each month.
