Hot property

The Property Magazine celebrated its first anniversary in April with one-million copies already in the market and a KwaZulu-Natal edition in the pipeline. Managing Director Tony Vaughan says the success of the Cape Town edition of the Property Magazine meant they could bring forward the launch of their Gauteng edition and plan a launch party for the October 2005 KZN edition.

Vaughan says: "We took the idea of 'knock-and-drop' beyond 'free-to-home' and can now safely say we are 'free-to-coffee table' in over 70 000 households and 'free to bedside table' in almost 80 leading hotels nationwide."

The magazine has made in-roads into the retail market and is distributed nationally through Woolworths, CNA and Exclusive Books outlets: "Retail sales in Cape Town increased by 12% from January to March. More than 171 retailers sold out of the March issue - and we had record sales of 3 637 copies. In Gauteng, we sold more than 2 500 copies and 121 retailers sold out."

The Property Magazine has also launched the first reader survey conducted by SMS: "The results are pouring in and so far they reveal that the male/female split is 55/45; that the average age of the male reader is 40 and the female, 38; that 96% of the magazine's readers own their own home; that 34% plan to move home in the next 12 months; that the average price of their home is more than R3 million; and that, on average, they have paid off more than 49% of their bond."

The survey, put together and run by Bateleur Research Solutions and Spintelligent, runs over four months and will provide extensive information about the magazine's readers.