Agent Advice

Fuzzy Search

Private Property South Africa
Pieter Oosthuizen |
Fuzzy Search

On the new Private Property website you will see a very prominent search box, in more technical terms it’s referred to as a “fuzzy search” and we are very excited about it as we believe it will drastically enhance the sites usability.

Its purpose is to get you to what you are looking for as quickly and easily as possible.

The term “fuzzy search” refers to an exact or inexact search term typed in by the user, where the website responds by taking or showing the user the most relevant results matching the searched data.

We have seen a few implementations of a “fuzzy search” on various websites, and the correct formula is still a debate, our feeling is that there should be a good balance between the free format component and structured component i.e. a free format search that takes you to a page where you can refine your search using the current filter sets.

The fuzzy search will always be a work in progress, and our current implementation allows for a suburb, home-type, bedroom and a variable price range search term, here are a few examples.

e.g. [3 bed duplex in bellville between 700k and 1000000]

e.g. [4 bed house camps bay > 4mil]

e.g. [elardus park less than 500k]

As we improve the search it we be more of an “English language search” and you would be able to get results for complex and street searches and “points of interest”, here is an example of what you might type.

3 bedroom houses near Wynberg Boys' High School

Why not go to www.privateproperty.co.za and try some searches out.

Related Articles

Common mistakes sellers are still making in 2026
RE/MAX | 07 May 2026

Common mistakes sellers are still making in 2026

Many homeowners are unknowingly undermining their sale by repeating avoidable mistakes in today’s market.

How to identify property investment opportunities before everyone else
RE/MAX | 04 May 2026

How to identify property investment opportunities before everyone else

Learn how to identify property investment opportunities early by spotting demand shifts, infrastructure growth and emerging market trends.

KZN on the rise
Wakefields | 29 Apr 2026

KZN on the rise

Why more South Africans are choosing to make their permanent home in KwaZulu-Natal.

sample image of property alerts

Get instant property alerts

Be the first to see new properties for sale.
;