PropertyFinder Scraper

Extract property listings from PropertyFinder.ae – the UAE's leading real estate portal. This actor efficiently scrapes property details including prices, locations, specifications, and agent information.

PropertyFinder.ae is the largest property portal in the UAE with over 500,000 listings. This scraper helps you gather market intelligence, track pricing trends, monitor inventory, and analyze real estate data at scale.

How it works (fast & stealthy)

• HTTP-first with CheerioCrawler (no browser by default) for low cost and lower block rates.
• Tries inline JSON/JSON-LD first; falls back to resilient HTML selectors.
• Deduplicates listing URLs and optionally opens detail pages only when you ask for full data.
• Respects results_wanted + max_pages caps and uses session pool + smart headers for stealth.
• Provide either a full startUrl or a location (e.g., dubai); the actor builds clean /buy|/rent search URLs automatically.

What data can you extract?

The PropertyFinder Scraper extracts comprehensive property information:

• Property Details – Title, type (apartment, villa, townhouse, etc.), description
• Pricing – Sale/rental prices in AED, price per square foot
• Specifications – Bedrooms, bathrooms, area (sqft), floor level
• Location – Complete address, community, city, emirate
• Agent Information – Agent name, company, contact details
• Listing Metadata – Posted date, listing ID, verification status
• URLs – Direct links to property pages

Why scrape PropertyFinder.ae?

• Market Research – Analyze pricing trends across different areas and property types
• Competitive Analysis – Monitor competitor listings and pricing strategies
• Investment Decisions – Identify investment opportunities based on data-driven insights
• Property Valuation – Compare similar properties for accurate valuations
• Lead Generation – Collect agent contact information for business development
• Inventory Tracking – Monitor property availability in target locations

How to use this actor

Input Configuration

Configure the scraper using these parameters:

Search Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Example
propertyType	String	Type of property to search	apartment, villa, townhouse
location	String	City or emirate to search in	dubai, abu-dhabi, sharjah
categoryType	Integer	1 = For Sale, 2 = For Rent	1
minPrice	Integer	Minimum price in AED	500000
maxPrice	Integer	Maximum price in AED	2000000

Scraping Options

Parameter	Type	Description	Default
results_wanted	Integer	Maximum properties to collect	100
max_pages	Integer	Maximum search pages to visit	20
collectDetails	Boolean	Visit detail pages for full info	true
startUrl	String	Custom PropertyFinder search URL	-

Basic Example

{
  "propertyType": "apartment",
  "location": "dubai",
  "categoryType": 1,
  "minPrice": 1000000,
  "maxPrice": 3000000,
  "results_wanted": 100,
  "collectDetails": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]
  }
}

Advanced Example - Custom URL

{
  "startUrl": "https://www.propertyfinder.ae/en/search?page=1&c=1&fu=0&ob=mr&l=1",
  "results_wanted": 500,
  "max_pages": 50,
  "collectDetails": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]
  }
}

Quick Start Examples

Example 1: Villas for Sale in Dubai

{
  "propertyType": "villa",
  "location": "dubai",
  "categoryType": 1,
  "minPrice": 3000000,
  "results_wanted": 200
}

Example 2: Apartments for Rent in Abu Dhabi

{
  "propertyType": "apartment",
  "location": "abu-dhabi",
  "categoryType": 2,
  "maxPrice": 100000,
  "results_wanted": 150
}

Example 3: Luxury Properties

{
  "location": "dubai",
  "categoryType": 1,
  "minPrice": 10000000,
  "results_wanted": 50,
  "collectDetails": true
}

Output Format

The actor saves data to the dataset in this structure:

{
  "title": "Spacious 2BR Apartment | Marina View | Prime Location",
  "propertyType": "Apartment",
  "price": "1,850,000 AED",
  "location": "Dubai Marina, Dubai",
  "bedrooms": 2,
  "bathrooms": 2,
  "area": "1,200 sqft",
  "description": "Beautiful 2-bedroom apartment with stunning marina views...",
  "agentName": "John Smith",
  "postedDate": "Posted 2 days ago",
  "url": "https://www.propertyfinder.ae/en/plp/buy/apartment-for-sale-..."
}

Dataset Fields

Field	Type	Description
title	String	Property listing title
propertyType	String	Type of property (apartment, villa, etc.)
price	String	Price in AED
location	String	Property location
bedrooms	Integer	Number of bedrooms
bathrooms	Integer	Number of bathrooms
area	String	Property size in square feet
description	String	Full property description
agentName	String	Listing agent's name
postedDate	String	When listing was posted
url	String	Direct link to property page

Performance and Best Practices

Proxy Configuration

Important: Always use proxies when scraping PropertyFinder to avoid IP blocks.

We recommend using Residential proxies for best results:

{
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]
  }
}

Optimization Tips

• Start Small – Test with low results_wanted values first
• Use Filters – Apply price and bedroom filters to reduce irrelevant results
• Disable Details – Set collectDetails: false for faster basic scraping
• Monitor Costs – Track compute units and proxy usage in the Apify Console
• Schedule Runs – Use Apify Scheduler for regular data updates

Resource Consumption

Properties	Runtime	Compute Units
100	~2-3 min	~0.05
500	~8-10 min	~0.15
1000	~15-20 min	~0.30

Note: Times vary based on collectDetails setting and proxy speed.

Use Cases

Real Estate Market Analysis

Monitor pricing trends across different areas:

• Track average prices per square foot
• Identify undervalued properties
• Analyze price changes over time
• Compare different neighborhoods

Property Portfolio Management

Maintain updated information on your listings:

• Monitor competitor properties
• Track new listings in target areas
• Analyze market saturation
• Identify emerging markets

Lead Generation

Build databases of agents and properties:

• Extract agent contact information
• Identify active property developers
• Find off-plan project opportunities
• Generate leads for real estate services

Investment Research

Make data-driven investment decisions:

• Compare rental yields across locations
• Identify high-demand property types
• Analyze supply and demand trends
• Forecast market movements

Integration and Export

Export Formats

Export your data in multiple formats:

• JSON
• CSV
• Excel (XLSX)
• XML
• RSS Feed

API Access

Access your data programmatically:

// Get dataset items
const { ApifyClient } = require('apify-client');
const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_TOKEN' });

const datasetItems = await client.dataset('DATASET_ID').listItems();

Webhooks

Set up webhooks to receive data automatically when the run completes.

Compliance and Fair Use

Legal Notice: This actor is provided for legitimate use cases only. Users must comply with PropertyFinder.ae's Terms of Service and applicable laws.

Responsible Scraping

• Use reasonable rate limiting
• Respect robots.txt directives
• Don't overload the target servers
• Use data for lawful purposes only
• Respect intellectual property rights

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Support and Resources

Getting Help

• Check the Apify Documentation
• Visit the Apify Community Forum
• Contact support via the Apify Console

Related Actors

Explore other real estate scrapers:

• Bayut Scraper – Scrape listings from Bayut.com
• Dubizzle Scraper – Extract data from Dubizzle.com
• Zillow Scraper – US property data from Zillow

Technical Details

Architecture

• Framework: Efficient HTTP-based crawler for optimal performance
• Extraction: JSON-LD structured data with HTML fallback
• Pagination: Automatic page traversal with configurable limits
• Deduplication: URL-based duplicate prevention

Data Extraction Methods

1. JSON-LD Priority – Extracts structured data when available
2. HTML Parsing – Fallback for missing structured data
3. Hybrid Approach – Combines both methods for maximum accuracy

Changelog

Version 1.0.0

• Initial release
• Support for apartments, villas, and townhouses
• JSON-LD and HTML extraction
• Configurable filters and pagination
• Proxy support with Apify Proxy integration

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