A Base in Australia?

Heard of Google Base? If not, you might soon be.

Google Base is a type of online classifieds service from the good folk at Google. Its affect, which of course is probably still a while off, could potentially cause major shake-ups to how the online real estate sector functions in Australia.

"If you're a real estate professional, making your listings searchable on Google is simple and completely free. We don't charge for photos or offer "featured listings." We believe that buyers just want to see the home that fits them best and that providers shouldn't have to pay to show it to them. We don't sell houses, deal with agents' compensation, or charge for leads. Our business is helping people find the information they're looking for—when you have it, we send them directly to you."

- The Official Google Blog

Google Base is still in its BETA phase and even though, technically, it doesn't yet cater to Australia, real estate listings from Australia are already being added to Google Base by real estate agents, real estate listing providers (such as OzCastles, our partner site) and single users.

Currently, realestate.com.au (REA) is way ahead as the number one real estate website in Australia. In effect, it has a monopoly over online real estate listings in Australia and is where most users begin searching for properties. REA, of course, does not have all the properties available on sale in Australia. This is not only due to the fact that not all real estate agents in Australia pay to list there, but also due to the fact that many sellers choose to sell privately and REA does not accept listings from private sellers.

If Google Base does take off, what it could create is a central hub for searching online property listings. This is, essentially, what has been missing in Australia. Imagine simply going to Google, searching for "Perth real estate" and receiving property listings in Perth from multiple sites, including REA and Domain and the multitude of other, albeit smaller, real estate listing providers.

This would be one powerful and easy-to-use tool in the hands of all property buyers!

To see what property listings already exist on Google Base, search here.