Ebay.co.uk has launched a property search facility with more than 170,000 properties listed from the UK and overseas.  Globaledge understands that Ebay has been testing the new section over the last few weeks and plans to promote it more publicly later in the year.

According to ComScore, the site boasts nearly 20 million monthly unique users  and is the fourth largest UK website behind Google, Microsoft and Yahoo.  With an audience this size, the new section could represent an excellent lead generation opportunity for real estate agents and developers.

Agents, developers and private individuals can list property in two ways:  either by selecting the classified advertising option and choosing a fixed property price or by selecting the auction facility and encouraging users to bid.  Successful bidders are not contractually obliged to buy.   Both options cost  £35 per property.  Auctioned properties stay on the site for a maximum of 10 days while classified listings last for 28 days.   Listings include one photograph but additional pictures can be bought for 12 pence each. You can list by searching for the word “property” on this page

Although agent classified listings appear at the top of the results, the bulk of the properties on Ebay.co.uk appear to be coming from partner sites, most notably PropertyIndex.com.   It’s not clear on the exact nature of the deal as neither company was available for comment.

Although Ebay.co.uk has a huge audience, the main barrier for lead generation seems to be its clunky property search facility.  It’s possible to find property by searching at country level, for example Cape Verde  but it is difficult for users to drill down by town or postcode for both UK and overseas destinations.   The property search is also hidden away in the Homes & Garden section and is not linked to from the main navigation like it is on Ebay.ie which has an exclusive agreement with and white labels the search technology from Irish market leader, Daft.ie.

Real estate is a huge untapped vertical for Ebay and it surely is only a question of time before all its other country domains follow suit. According to Comscore figures, Ebay.com in the US attracts over 67 million monthly uniques   but it has no real estate section.   The problem for the US Ebay is that realtors won’t pay to list but you can bet there are many US property portals willing to pay big money for an exclusive deal.

Ebay in Germany, France and Ireland (and now the UK) all list real estate.  It’s likely Ebay’s other country domains won’t be too far behind.