New deal with real estate giant marks change of course for Boligportal

Rental property website Boligportal has signed a data agreement with one of the Nordic region’s largest real estate investors. The agreement marks a clear shift from being a marketplace for landlords and tenants to being a data provider for the real estate sector.

For 20 years, Denmark’s largest rental property platform Boligportal has been gathering data on home seekers and landlords. This information could be worth its weight in gold – as the company is now finding out, having just struck a deal on access to it with NREP, one of the largest Nordic real estate investors.

The agreement marks a clear shift for Boligportal from being a marketplace for rental properties to being a data platform, explains CEO Anders Hyldborg:

“We see massive potential in selling our data to real estate companies. It’s clear that we can meet a need in an industry where data is playing an ever greater role. We launched our data platform in September, and the deal with NREP provides confirmation that this is a major focus area for us.”

NREP has a real estate portfolio worth more than DKK 100 billion and now has access to an archive of data containing the digital footprints of 75% of the market for rental home seekers and 50% of the rental housing available in Denmark.

Boligportal’s tool gives companies like NREP access to information on rent levels in different parts of the country, what types of property are in demand, and where the market is underserved.

“Data is a strategic focus area for NREP and will be more and more important in reaching the right decisions and innovating at the same rate as before,” says Kell Møller, head of digitalisation at NREP.

Brand-new revenue source
Boligportal reported revenue of more than DKK 82 million and operating earnings of around DKK 27 million in 2020. Its ambition is double-digit top-line growth, and Anders Hyldborg says the newly launched data platform will make a major contribution:

“The market for data is already huge and is expected to grow in the coming years. We expect revenue from sales of data to play a key role for us in achieving double-digit growth.”

Boligportal has seen strong interest in the new product since the platform was launched in September. Hyldborg says that not only professional real estate companies but also other big players in the property market, such as developers and advisers, have shown an interest in the tool.

Another company to have entered into an agreement with Boligportal is property developer Birch Ejendomme. Partner Thomas Bertelsen says the greatest challenge is bringing relevant information together in one place to gain an overview of the market. When it comes to rental properties, that is exactly what Boligportal’s tool can do for the Silkeborg-based property developer:

“It’s an efficient way to form a good and robust overview of not only historical developments but also the current situation and expectations for the future,” says Bertelsen.

Although the new business line will contribute significantly to Boligportal’s growth, its CEO believes that it is too early to announce any concrete targets. Anders Hyldborg does, however, reveal that small landlords can access the data platform for DKK 798 a month, while agreements with the biggest players will run to more than DKK 1 million a year.

“The platform is bringing us a brand-new source of revenue, and we expect data products to contribute significantly to growth in our top line.”

Free services are key
In September, Boligportal launched a free digital service for handling inspection reports when tenants move in and out of properties. In June, it launched another free online service in the form of digital leases that landlords and tenants can sign using their NemID digital signature.

These two services will drive even more traffic through the portal, and these free services are a key factor in optimising the data that private real estate companies are now buying from Boligportal.

“Digital move in/out inspection reports and digital leases are some of the most important tools for us in optimising data for our corporate clients,” says Hyldborg. “They mean that we know where people are moving and on what terms.”

He says that Boligportal has more than 4 million visitors annually, and more than 100,000 homes were let through the site last year.

The article is published by Børsen. Read the original article in Danish here.