THREE of New Zealand’s key real estate sites have embraced Google’s Street View technology.
Realestate.co.nz, Nz.open2view.com and Fairfax-owned TradeMe.co.nz are now offering the functionality to would-be buyers. Previously, TradeMe had a similar service that was provided by a Wellington based company, called Project X. However, after two years of trials, the site management has now switched to Google and more than half its listings are already accessible through Google.
Photos of the outside of each house are taken by contractors to Google. Cameras are mounted on the cars and the snaps are taken as they drive by. Major cities in New Zealand, Australia and the central suburbs of Singapore and Hong Kong have all been catalogued in this way.
Some real estate agents have resisted the StreetView technology, believing that buyers would see the properties promoted and deal with the owner directly, cutting the agent out of the loop and denying them their 2-3 percent commission, according to aimgroup.com.
Tags: real estate
