The vision of the UAE is nothing short of ambitious. And without this ambition, the country wouldn’t have experienced its huge economic growth trajectory over recent years. In the early 2000s, there were very few platforms to find every home in one place and the physical classifieds hardly got close. New waves of change uncovered the potential for online marketplaces within the UAE’s real estate sector. That was the inspiration behind Michael Lahyani’s brainchild, Property Finder, a lighthouse tech-led company that is today one of the UAE’s leading homegrown unicorns.
When Lahyani moved from his hometown of Geneva to Dubai, he launched the UAE’s first printed real estate classifieds - Al Bab World. Inspired by his own struggles in finding a suitable home for his family, Lahyani noticed a clear gap in the market for trusted real estate listings online. He wanted to give homeseekers all the tools they needed for home rentals and real estate professionals a platform to advertise their listings. With an aim to create a strong PropTech ecosystem, Property Finder was launched to connect renters and buyers with landlords, sellers and real estate brokers, disrupting the world of traditional classifieds and paving the way for growth in the era of digital revolution and rapid transformation. The growth of Property Finder truly runs hand in hand with the remarkable journey of the nation, driven by relentless vision and matched by great determination.
Since its launch in 2007, Property Finder has expanded its operations across the region by acquiring shares in leading tech players. Today, Property Finder continues to fuel the growth of the GCC’s proptech ecosystem with operations across Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey.
Simplifying business for all its customers, the home search platform offers a host of products and services including SuperAgent, the MENA’s first AI-driven ranking system. Custom developed by Property Finder, SuperAgent helps every homeseeker find the most updated listings on the market, giving them all the information they need to navigate a rather busy real estate marketplace. It ensures great quality of listings, faster response time and enhanced customer service.
Additionally, Mortgage Finder - a tech enabled, human charged, end-to-end service mortgage provider in the UAE that is powered by Property Finder provides a dedicated marketplace for the best lending advice. Empowering prospective homebuyers with best in class mortgage advisory, the platform offers unbiased support and access to all banks and lending institutions, with decades of experience in international, residential and commercial lending.
Supporting the sector’s rapid growth, Property Finder continues to work towards making real estate better, one listing at a time. Prioritizing trust and transparency, Property Finder is committed to ensuring all listings are authorized, accessible and available. Driven by its four key tenets: trust, transparency, talent and technology, Property Finder is an incredible story of everything that defines transformation and all that is set to shape the future. With a vision to revolutionize home search in the region everyday, it's worth seeing how this pioneering property portal continues to empower homeseekers to live the life they deserve in a landscape that thrives on the extraordinary.
