Openn Negotiation Ltd (ASX:OPN) notched up a 159% rise in uploads to its platform in the December quarter compared to the December 2021 quarter.
That is just one of the numbers that highlights the company’s achievements in this particular quarter.
Further highlights include:
- Rolling 12-month growth in uploads of 111%, which compares favourably to the 71% annual growth rate required to meet the 5% target market share as stated in the 2021 AGM. Expansion of Australian east coast market access capabilities;
- Patent accepted in USA, creating a strong legal pathway to protect our invest in USA market entry;
- Invited into REACH Canada Accelerator program, with investment from the National Association of Realtors venture arm, Second Century Ventures; and
- US pilot program Broker Agreements executed ahead of program launch.
Notably, Openn is fully funded with $6.483 million cash at December 31, 2021, and its go-to-market strategy in the US is largely complete and on track to target a commercial launch in the region during the first half of 2022.
“The October-December quarter provided a solid finish to what was another big year in real estate and at Openn,” managing director Peter Gibbons said.
“Openn reported a significant growth in uploads to the platform since listing on the ASX in July 2021 – more than double the company target since listing.
“Registered users of the platform grew substantially to 90,497 as expected and in line with upload growth.
“Our North American Strategy continued to gather momentum with notification received from the US Patent Office that our Patent application has been accepted.
"This is the first pending patent owned by Openn Tech to be accepted. It is of significant importance because it creates a strong legal pathway to protect the value of investments made by the Openn group in developing the Openn platform.”
Australia and New Zealand operations
Openn continued to increase sales and uploads to its core technology platform throughout the year.
During the quarter, the business turned its focus to executing its growth blueprint centred around three main objectives:
- Adoption. At this stage, vendor awareness is the primary focus, as the company has projected to penetrate >5% of the total addressable market.
- Ecosystem. Continue developments to embed Openn technologies into existing agents while establishing meaningful partnerships with Proptech and agent ecosystems.
- Data. Develop data as an asset and use it as a tool to enhance the exchange between its users and partners.
The launch of Openn Offers, Openn’s online private treaty solution, saw great success and accounted for 30% of the total uploads in the second quarter.
Encouragingly, Openn’s auction offering, Openn Negotiation, is also on the rise and wasn’t impacted at all by the launch.
Total number of agents trained in the quarter was 401, an increase of 61% compared to the previous year, bringing the total number of certified agents to 4,521.
Openn has continued its program of canvassing the market to attract high calibre senior resources with an intent to strengthen our eastern states presence and capacity to execute market expansion plans.
“For the first time, New South Wales overtook Western Australia to become the highest uploading state,” Gibbons said.
New opportunities in the US
Openn's North American arm, Openn North America Inc. released the first pilot of the technology in November 2021.
The real estate transactional process in the US and Canada can vary from state to state, making the process ‘tricky’. For instance, some states require buyers’ agents to be involved while some are optional.
In order to provide fair access to listings for all buyers’ agents, the market is semi-regulated by a Multiple Listing Service (MLS). This provides two unique opportunities for Openn.
Firstly, MLS organisations offer channels to market access for new entrants with solutions specific to their needs.
Secondly, when each certified Openn agent lists a property using Openn, it will introduce the platform to multiple buyer agents participating in the sale negotiation. This propels a natural lead generation alignment for buyers’ agents and the necessity for the Openn platform.
Larger MLS organisations are key participants in the real estate market, especially in the promotion and delivery of the Openn platform.
During the December quarter, discussions with key MLS groups began, along with industry associations, brokers, and technology providers to the market.
A key theme emerged: consumer and regulatory demand for transparency, and the impact on agent efficiency caused by oversight pressures.
Openn Negotiation Limited’s efforts in the next quarter are focused on supporting these themes and growing industry relationships across Canada and the USA.
Mitigating volatility
Looking ahead, Gibbons says volatility remains a key challenge for price setting.
“With 24% of sold properties selling on the Openn platform for more than $50,000 above expectations, agents are finding transparent processes help their clients avoid the risk of underselling.
“Data generated by the Openn platform is offering unique insights into the real estate market. While buyer demand eased slightly, the continued strength in the property market was evident in the sustained levels of buyer competition, with quarterly and year-on-year increases in the total number of offers per property."
- Written by Duncan Bailey