OnTheMarket is now targeting 7,500 members as part of its efforts to replace Zoopla as the number two property portal after gaining the support of 6,000 UK estate and letting agent offices across the country.

The level of support, which consists of contracted members and agents who have signed a ‘Letter of Intent’ to join OTM when total support reaches 7,500 offices, was achieved less than 10 months after the launch of the portal in January 2015.

The growth in members, in addition to website traffic which OTM says reached a record high of 5.7 million visits in October, ensures that the portal will enter 2016 in good shape, according to Ian Springett (left), Chief Executive of OTM.

He said, “We will be entering 2016 in a strong position – supported by another heavyweight national marketing campaign – and intent on overtaking ZPG in terms of available UK residential listings.

“From that point, we believe that agent momentum will snowball and we will focus all our energy on continuing to build a sustainably low-cost alternative to Rightmove to serve both agents and consumers better.”

Mr Springett pointed out that it was nine months ago that Alex Chesterman, the CEO of Zoopla Property Group, called OnTheMarket.com a “short-term event” but he now believes that these latest figures prove he could not have been further from the truth.

He continued, “The reality is that the pace of our growth is building. He (Alex Chesterman) should be in no doubt that OnTheMarket.com is here to stay.

“What’s more, October was another record month for traffic with more than 5.7 million visits, of which over 60 per cent were from repeat visitors.”

The use of non-binding Letters of Intent has been OTM’s primary method of building membership, and the portal views the 7,500 office target as a significant milestone, because if at that point new members make the same ‘other portal’ choices as existing OTM members, under the one other portal rule, OTM estimate that it will have more available UK residential property listings than Zoopla – “the Tipping Point”, a spokesperson added.

Meanwhile, Zoopla Property Group (ZPG) claims that it achieved more than 7 million downloads for its mobile apps, a milestone reached in October, when 49 per cent of all interactions on the ZPG platform, which incorporates the likes of Zoopla, Primelocation and SmartNewHomes, were from a smartphone as more people use mobile devices to search for property on the move.

Lawrence Hall (right) of ZPG commented, “It’s no secret that the explosion of mobile is the single most important development that is changing the way home movers search for property. With over seven million downloads of our apps and over 65 per cent of all visits to our platform now via mobile, our members are taking advantage of both our clear market position and continuous shift to mobile.”

Zoopla has also announced that it has extended its Special Agents programme until the end of next year providing various incentives, ranging from market share reports to expensive prizes, designed to drive awareness of the tools and market intelligence available for free via Zoopla Pro.

“Our ‘Special Agents’ campaign launched last week and we have been delighted with the response so far,” said Jon Notley, Chief Commercial Officer at ZPG. “We have had over 1,400 entries to the competition and that number is growing daily.”

He added, “The campaign is designed to be fun but also useful and informative, with a very lucky member winning a limited edition Omega watch. We are also promoting awareness and usage of ZooplaPro, a service that is available to all of our members at no extra cost and which provides a number of useful tools that helps them save time and identify new business opportunities.”