Men Dominate Online Property Search In Emerging Markets

While women are the primary users of online real estate portals in the west, men still dominate the property search process in the emerging markets, according to new data from Lamudi. However in some key countries in Latin America and Asia, women are emerging as the dominant decision-makers when searching for property online.

Onsite data from Lamudi, the global property portal, reveals that men account for the majority of users searching for real estate to buy or rent in the emerging markets. In countries such as Nigeria, Pakistan and Bangladesh, as many as three-quarters of online property-seekers are male. Male house-hunters also significantly outnumber women in the online property search process in Ghana (where 68 percent of users are men), Tanzania (68 percent), Saudi Arabia (63 percent) and Senegal (60 percent).

Research has shown that women are the primary users of online property portals in western countries. In the US, 53 percent of people who sign up to buy or sell real estate online are female, figures from Realtor.org show. Meanwhile, more than 40 percent of Australian women regularly use online real estate classifieds, compared to 28 percent of men, according to Nielsen/Net Ratings research.

Lamudi Kenya Managing Director Dan Karua said: “In Kenya, 55 percent of Lamudi users are male. This is because, majority of the men have dominated the real estate sector in terms of investments in the last decade but now, we can see women being involved in decision making and also coming up with real estate agencies and developments.”

In parts of Latin America and Asia, women account for the majority of online property-seekers. The countries where female house-hunters are more likely to search online for real estate are: Colombia (64 percent female), Mexico (63 percent), Peru (66 percent) and the Philippines (64 percent). In Indonesia, male and female online property-seekers are split 50-50.

Lamudi’s Co-Founder and Managing Director, Kian Moini, said: “While our findings support the notion that men are the primary decision-makers in households in many emerging markets, this is not necessarily the case across the board. In countries such as Mexico and the Philippines, it is women who drive the search for property online, though men may still make the final decision.”

Country	Male (%)	Female (%)
Algeria	53	47
Bangladesh	75	25
Colombia	36	64
Ghana	68	32
Indonesia	50	50
Kenya	55	45
Mexico	37	63
Morocco	54	46
Myanmar	59	41
Nigeria	74	26
Pakistan	74	26
Peru	34	66
Philippines	36	64
Qatar	56	44
Rwanda	70	30
Saudi Arabia	63	37
Senegal	63	37
Sri Lanka	60	40
Tanzania	68	32
Tunisia	58	42

Colour code

Men are primary users

Women are primary users

50-50 split between genders