OTM extends discounted fees to end of September but will Zoopla follow?
'Third portal' says it has enough cash to fund the extended offers, which sees its fees discount held at 30% during August but reduce to 20% in September.
OnTheMarket (OTM) has extended its reduced fees period by two months from 25th July to 25th September, the first of the big three portals to do so.
This strongly increases the likelihood that Zoopla will now consider following suit after Rightmove also extended its discounted fee scheme.
As we report this morning, Rightmove is under heavy pressure from several campaigning groups to reveal its hand ahead of its own 25th July deadline.
OTM’s discount will remain at 33% until August and then reduce to 20% during September.
These discounts will be given to all OTM agent customers who are paying on full-tariff listing agreements and that it has enough cash to survive the crisis. At the end of May it had net cash of £8.8m, deferred creditor payments of £2.3m but no borrowings.
“Whilst we have seen record levels of leads in recent weeks, which is a testament to the strong engagement OnTheMarket.com has with consumers who are currently active in the property market, we believe agents continue to face challenges and that offering this discount extension package will assist them as they continue to restart operations,” says acting CEO Clive Beattie (pictured, above).
OTM says that traffic to its website has begun to ramp up again hitting six million visits at week since the housing market re-opened in England while leads generated last week were at 440,000, up from 430,000 the week before.
“It remains the core strategy of OnTheMarket, as the majority agent-owned portal, to deliver value and to provide first-class support for our agent customers,” says Beattie.
Read more about OTM’s fees reduction track record.