A HAPPY homehunter is an appy one as apps become the latest tech tool for homehunters to browse property sites and portals. Myhome.ielaunched its first app in 2010. The latest version was released in December, says Gavin Joyce, head of development at MyHome.ie, who designed a mobile touch app for Lisney, as well as the newly launched android and iphone app for DNG, the latest property group to sign up to the technology. But just what is the advantage for an agent already on the Myhome platform?

“As a marketing exercise it’s useful, these are large franchise groups, their members get a mobile app relatively cheaply,” Joyce explains. Myhome apps cost in the region of €3,000 to €5,000 to produce.

For now it seems unlikely the independent estate agent will want their own branded native iPhone app but Joyce expects that to change too.

Kieran Harte, marketing director at Daft, says apps for both smartphone and iPhone have seen “the biggest growth in their traffic across sales, rentals and commercial”. For him, the most interesting trend is the iPad app being used late at night.

Daft used to measure the popularity of apps by the number of downloads. Now they look at the amount of unique people who have used the app, Harte explains. “We’ve had over 200,000 people across smart phones; 65 per cent iPhone versus 35 per cent Android.”

Sherry FitzGerald is one of the few high-profile agents that doesn’t yet have its own app. The advantage for users is the mobility to view sales or rentals when you have the free time to do so, Harte says.