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OnTheMarket claims COVID lockdown was ‘defining moment’ in portal wars

Agent-owned platform says many estate agencies reassessed the value they get from Zoopla and Rightmove during the lockdown as it reports increased branch numbers.

Nigel Lewis

 

OnTheMarket has claimed that the Covid lockdown has been a catalyst for many agents to review their portal choices and ‘examine the value delivered’.

Chairman Christopher Bell says the company is seeking to use this change to catch up with Rightmove and Zoopla.

“Will look to capitalise on this opportunity through our strong portal offering, our approach of agent alignment through ownership in OnTheMarket and our commitment to sustainably low listing fees,” he says.

Bell’s comments have been made ahead of the portal’s AGM later today during which it will reveal that it has now reached just under 14,000 listing branches.

600 branches

This follows its latest sales push which persuaded 600 branches to join, offering agents ‘welcome shares’ in return for signing up to a full-tariff paying contract.

The portal has also now persuaded 1,619 branches so far to list exclusive with its platform to the exclusion of Zoopla and Rightmove, a rise of 42% year-on-year.

The portal paused its advertising during the Covid pandemic lockdown but despite this, the number of leads passed on to agents increased by 6.3% from January to 134 leads a month per advertiser, or 1.8 million leads.

“Our financial year to 31 January 2020 was a year of strong operational performance with financial momentum building throughout the second half,” says Bell (left).

“Following the release of pent-up consumer demand as the market reopened, buoyed further by the Chancellor’s stamp duty holiday, agents are seeing strong levels of activity.

Read more about portal wars.

July 30, 2020

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