portals
-
Latest property news
OnTheMarket battles continue
It’s been a tortuous few weeks in the property industry, fears about online agents, portal battles, tax hikes and the EU Referendum have combined to make many property people just a bit jittery. Certain people are searching for a fall guy. And they’d like it to be a big one. OnTheMarket is one of the current bookies’ favourites for the role, as disappointed members (some saying 200 disappointed members) attempt to get out of their contracts without paying their fees. As if an internal ruck isn’t enough, coincidentally (or perhaps not) the Competition & Markets Authority, published a statement warning online property portals which prevent those listing homes on them from also listing on rival sites that they may be breaching competition law. One of the founding principles behind it was that any agent wishing to list properties on OnTheMarket would have to choose between either one of its rivals – meaning either Zoopla or Rightmove would lose out. Ann Pope (left) Senior Director, Antitrust, at the Competition and Markets Authority who has a holy name and a worrying title, wrote in an Open Letter to all estate agents that “when an estate agent makes a commercial decision about its…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Rightmove website was not compromised, says portal
Rightmove has dismissed claims that its portal has been compromised after ITV London had claimed to have uncovered a new scam targeting renters in the capital. ITV issued a news report last week stating that the scam targets people who have been searching online for a place to rent in London. The news channel said that house-hunters receive an e-mail, claiming to be from a landlord they have already contacted who tells them an ideal property is still available, and available to view with an agent from Air BnB, but only after paying a hefty deposit. The report went on to state that it was not clear how the details are being harvested, but that many victims claimed that they received the e-mail after searching on Rightmove. But the UK’s leading property portal has responded to the report by insisting that it has carefully checked its website and found nothing wrong. “We received reports of two people being contacted by email from an unknown gmail account about a flat, which asks them to pay an upfront rental deposit via an AirBnB agent before they could view a property. We immediately investigated using all information provided to us and found no…
Read More » -
Adam Walker
There’s more to marketing properties than portal listings
Racing to put new instructions on the portals may, says Adam Walker, blow your chances of the best sale. It may seem like a good idea, but consider the downsides.
Read More » -
Marketing
Rightmove grows in spite of OTM
Rightmove continues to hold a dominant position in the online property search market after increasing its market share to 77 per cent, up from 74 per cent a year ago, in spite of fresh competition from the arrival of OnTheMarket.com at the start of 2015. Recognising the fact that its website remains a must-see destination for buyers and renters, the number of agents listing on Rightmove rose by two per cent year-on-year to 19,752 over the year to the end of December. The rise in the volume of agents listing on the portal helped boost Rightmove’s revenue by 15 per cent to £192.1 million in 2015, while pre-tax profit was up 12 per cent to £137.1 million. In total, Rightmove attracted 1.3 billion visits to its website in 2015, up 18 per cent compared to a year earlier. Rightmove’s underlying operating margin also increased from 74.6 per cent a year ago to 75.1 per cent. This comes as a blow to its competitors, especially Agents’ Mutual, which had hoped to break Rightmove’s stronghold on the market with the launch of OnTheMarket. Zoopla announced last week that it also increased its agent members by one per cent to 12,841, indicating that…
Read More » -
Agencies & People
Big boost for OnTheMarket
Nottingham Estate Agency and Harrison Murray Estate Agency have announced their membership of OnTheMarket.com. Both part of the Nottingham Building Society, the two brands have a total of 37 branches. They will now be advertising all of their properties for sale and to rent at OnTheMarket.com and Rightmove. With more than 25 years’ experience as independent estate agents, Nottingham Estate Agency and Harrison Murray Estate Agency are amongst the largest regional estate agencies with offices in nine counties. OnTheMarket.com announced on Wednesday, January 14th, 2016 that the level of overall support for the portal had risen beyond 6,500 estate and letting agent offices across the UK, which is an increase of more than 50 per cent since this time last year. The announcement comes eight weeks after OnTheMarket.com revealed support had exceeded 6,000 offices. The figure consists of contracted members and agents who have signed a Letter of Intent to join OnTheMarket.com when total support reaches 7,500 offices – which is OnTheMarket.com’s next major milestone. Su Snaith (left), Head of Estate Agency at the Nottingham Estate Agency and Harrison Murray Estate Agency, said, “The achievements of OnTheMarket.com over the last year have been impressive. It is already established as a…
Read More » -
Latest property news
“OnTheMarket.com will go from strength to strength!”
As the newest property portal approaches its first anniversary on January 26, 2016, the Board Directors of Agents Mutual have reaffirmed that they have every confidence in OnTheMarket.com. In the first of a series of comments from the Directors representing estate agency firms on the Board, Noel Flint (left), Partner, Head of London Residential at Knight Frank, said he believed OnTheMarket.com had already created a significant change within the portals market in a way no other recent market entrant had done. He said, “The reality is that the portal is working and we have every confidence that it will continue to grow. As more agents recognise the strategic importance of regaining control of their data and costs and as they see the strategic opportunity to serve their clients and property-seekers better with their own portal, we believe that OnTheMarket.com will go from strength to strength. “In our view, as a mutual, the venture is uniquely placed to achieve a huge step forward for traditional estate agency. OnTheMarket.com is injecting some much needed competition into what had become a rather staid arena, dominated by two giants whose main focus was the creation of enormous profit margins.” Mr Flint said that OnTheMarket.com…
Read More » -
Latest property news
OnTheMarket “diminished as a threat” says Zoopla boss
It was billed as the property website that would finally break the so-called duopoly between Rightmove and Zoopla, but OnTheMarket (OTM) is turning out to be a bit a damp squib, according to Alex Chesterman, Head of Zoopla Property Group (ZPG). Zoopla said that the number of agents on its books has increased in recent months as it posted better than expected full-year earnings. ZPG has announced a £25.4 million profit in the 12 months to September despite greater market competition from OTM which has increased its market share since launching in January, primarily at the expense of Zoopla. Zoopla had 12,702 agency partners at the end of September, compared to 16,373 a year earlier, largely as a consequence of OTM’s ‘one other portal’ rule requiring their member agents to stop advertising on either Rightmove or Zoopla with a view to winning greater market share. The rule hit Zoopla significantly harder than Rightmove, with client numbers falling sharply. But Zoopla report that they are now winning some of those customers back, with Chesterman insisting that OTM’s “threat is diminishing”. ZPG’s growth in revenue for the year ending 30th September has been supported by the group’s acquisition of home services comparison…
Read More » -
Marketing
OnTheMarket targets 7,500 members
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…
Read More » -
Marketing
Moving target
Andrea Kirkby reviews the financial and market positions of the major portals as the new challenger squares up to ‘the establishment.’
Read More » -
Marketing
OTM’s ‘one other portal’ rule stifling transactions
A well-respected figure in the estate agency sector has written an open letter in conjunction with his business partner to Ian Springett (left), CEO OnTheMarket (OTM), urging him to drop the portal’s “One Other Portal” rule. OTM is attempting to break the so-called duopoly held by Rightmove and Zoopla with its ‘one other portal’ rule preventing their member agents from advertising on both Rightmove and Zoopla, with a view to saving agents money. The duopoly of the current two biggest portals means that prices of listing on the two portals have increased significantly in recent years, but to prevent further growth, OTM launched earlier this year with a view to saving agents money overtime. But with traffic to OTM failing to attract anywhere near the level of website traffic being generated by Rightmove and Zoopla, the number of leads being generated for some agents is falling, contributing to the current decline in transaction volumes in the UK, according to estate agency Consultant and Trainer, Richard Rawlings (right) and his business partner Bradley Payne. In an open letter to OTM’s CEO, one behalf of “the approx. 1,000 agency branches we serve, as well as the wider industry”, Rawlings and his business…
Read More »
