Royal LePage Launches New Website to Make Home Buying Easier for Canadians

Teams up with Google to deliver state-of-the-art search experience for extensive Canada-wide database of multi-brand property listings

TORONTO, April 16, 2013 /CNW/ - Royal LePage Real Estate Services (Royal LePage) today launched a new, fresh, feature and content-rich website (www.royallepage.ca), working with Google for its leading edge technologies and Plastic Mobile, a leading creative agency.

"Consumers are rightfully demanding that businesses provide them with more useful information online and superior user experiences. When it comes to the business of helping Canadians buy and sell homes, Royal LePage is listening," said Phil Soper, president and chief executive, Royal LePage Real Estate Services.  "This is an exciting time for both the company and consumers. The new www.royallepage.ca offers a dramatically different home-search experience. Faster, more intuitive, and with much greater flexibility. Browsing for homes has never been this enjoyable."

With the recent introduction of the Canadian Real Estate Association's Data Distribution Facility (DDF), which facilitates the sharing of co-operating brokers' property listings, the Royal LePage website now boasts close to 100,000 property listings, doubling its historical listings inventory.  By integrating DDF into the new website, Royal LePage is creating the most consumer-friendly home for real estate listings in Canada. The site will contain listings from multiple brands, not just Royal LePage, ensuring that consumers get the information and experience they want all in one place.

"Through an agreement with the Canadian Real Estate Association, the number of homes listed for sale on www.royallepage.ca has increased dramatically," continued Mr. Soper. "These tens of thousands of new listings are complemented by richer property data and insightful information about the neighbourhoods themselves."

To ensure a user experience that is second-to-none, Royal LePage is using some of Google's renowned technologies like Google Maps and Street View, and its new, innovative and industry-leading cloud-based services, which will ensure site speed, accessibility and reliability. The site also employs Google's experimental search feature connected to Google Places, which allows consumers to search for homes, not only using standard criteria, but also local landmarks.

"We're thrilled to be working with Royal LePage," said Jim Lambe, Google's head of Enterprise for Canada. "By leveraging Google's cloud-based services, Royal LePage will be providing a best-in-class experience for consumers."

The new website also delivers valuable neighbourhood information tailored to, and conveniently displayed with, each property listing.  Most properties will have a Walkscore® ranking, neighbourhood photos and descriptions, and an overview of local amenities, as well as other property listings available in the neighbourhood. The site will be updated regularly to ensure consumers always get up-to-date information.

Given the proliferation of devices, from smart-phones to tablets to laptops with large screen monitors, the website has been designed in a responsive fashion so that it renders the right size of display for each device automatically, further improving the user experience.  It is also highly visual with large buttons and concise text to appeal to the tablet user.

"We are always excited to partner with great brands like Royal LePage who continue to be leaders in their space by embracing new technologies like touch and mobile. As more and more people look to varied devices to gather information anywhere, on the go, it made sense to create a site that's responsive across myriad platforms," said Melody Adhami, president and chief operating officer of Plastic Mobile.

"Before Canadians take the big step and buy a home, they seek as much information as possible about properties in the neighbourhoods they're considering," said Soper. "With the help of our strategic partners and the latest technologies, Royal LePage has enabled consumers to take their home-search research to a whole new level."

About Royal LePage

Serving Canadians since 1913, Royal LePage is the country's leading provider of services to real estate brokerages, with a network of 14,000 real estate professionals in over 600 locations nationwide. Royal LePage is the only Canadian real estate company to have its own charitable foundation, the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, dedicated to supporting women's & children's shelters and educational programs aimed at ending domestic violence. Royal LePage is a Brookfield Real Estate Services Inc. company, a TSX-listed corporation trading under the symbolTSX:BRE.

For more information, visit www.royallepage.ca.

SOURCE: Royal LePage Real Estate Services

For further information:

Gwen McGuire
Kaiser Lachance Communications
416-725-2520
[e-mail]

Tammy Gilmer
Director, Global Communications & Public Relations
Royal LePage Real Estate Services
416-510-5783