View Media Group has launched a new online portal that offers extra help to buyers searching for properties – and for vendors and agents to connect with them.

“This is really exciting and the culmination of years of hard work since we initially took an equity position in the realestateview.com.au business and subsequently launched VMG last year,” VMG executive chairman Antony Catalano said.

“With View, our ‘Freemium’ listings model is a game-changer and will allow vendors to list their properties for free, with upgrade options available for those agents who wish to further promote their listings and their brands.

“We’ve listened to the industry and the time is right for an offer to come to market with an alternative model that addresses the real estate industry’s concern at the continually escalating price of advertising.”

View Media Group executive chairman Antony Catalano. Photo: Supplied

The View portal is available via App stores and at view.com.au. It offers a complete view of the market, with all established properties across the country featured, whether they’re for sale or not.

“That means view.com.au will showcase more than 11 million properties in Australia, compared to some of the portals, which feature around 140,000 properties for sale. From day one we will provide consumers with a complete view of the market.’’ Catalano said.

“We feel that restricting consumers to only being able to search for those properties that are currently for sale is extremely limiting. It’s like saying that you should only advertise a job vacancy to those that are unemployed.

“Often the best candidate is already employed – and we feel the same logic can be applied in the property category and that often the best house for an individual is not currently for sale.”

View allows buyers to look at all properties; listed or unlisted. If a property isn’t actually on the market, a potential buyer can still express an interest in it to hopefully stimulate the market and encourage transactions that might not have otherwise occurred, Catalano said.

The website has been developed to provide property-seekers with an easy to navigate experience in a superior map-based search. It is delivered via mapping partner Nearmap.