In a new move by Google, their popular maps product will now feature real estate listings by estate agents on the popular Google Maps site.
According to Nielsen research, 87% of Aussie buyers now use the Web to find a property. For a while now, the big real estate websites such as Domain and Real Estate.com.au have used Google maps as an invaluable extra to show potential buyers exactly where houses are located.
Indeed, Google's new search feature might be slightly worrying for the bigger real estate search engines, whose bread and butter comes from attracting users across to the Web to click on their particular listings.
Potential buyers need only enter a city or suburb to find all available listings, which will be represented by small circles on a map. Search criteria can then be defined by price, type of property and number of bedrooms.
Competing real estate sites will likely get something out of this too, by having their properties link back from the maps to the original site - but Google is opening up the market to smaller players and that has some real estate groups excited.
Google Maps already offers Street View and Transit information as invaluable map extras, but the arrival of a real estate map search breaks new ground for the company, although you can already search for many businesses through Google maps.
Also, Google Maps is an Australian creation, and in a country obsessed with house prices and house renovation, the service may prove popular.