Slowdown at top and bottom of market hits London house prices March 16, 2015 London property prices fell from February to March, figures released today show. New seller asking prices dropped by 0.4 per cent according to online property market Rightmove. It is the first time in three years that prices have retreated in March. High-end property values saw their asking prices trimmed by 2.6 per cent. Demand [...]
Estate agent wars: OnTheMarket hits one million mark for unique users three weeks after launch February 18, 2015 Newly launched online property portal OnTheMarket.com said it had its one millionth unique user this weekend, as it continues it battle against the "unfair duopoly" held over the online market by Rightmove and Zoopla. OnTheMarket.com, set up by Agents' Mutual, is backed by estate agents such as Savills and Knight Frank. The rule banning agents from listing properties [...]
UK house prices: Is the government’s pension reform about to put strain on the property market? February 16, 2015 Britain is in the grip of a property shortage, and it could be about to get worse. New legislation means that from April many pensioners will be able to cash-in their pension pots, with many expected to invest in the buy to let market. The market seems ill-prepared for such interest. Data from Rightmove, the [...]
UK house prices: Housing shortage means property costs grow at fastest rate in 10 months February 16, 2015 Has a bombshell has landed in the housing market this morning? Britain’s chronic shortage of homes is the main driver behind the average asking price for a property surging by £5,729, or 2.1 per cent, this month, after what had looked to be a tempering market. The 2.1 per cent rise in February is up [...]
OnTheMarket will need to win the Google battle before it can really challenge Zoopla and Rightmove January 28, 2015 OnTheMarket.com, the new property website from the Agents’ Mutual group of estate agents, launched with much fanfare this week with an apparent threat to the “duopoly” enjoyed by Rightmove and Zoopla. Zoopla, as the less well-visited of the two property portal giants, seemed in particular danger as one of the requirements of OnTheMarket.com meant [...]
OnTheMarket vs Zoopla and Rightmove: We need a buyer-friendly housing market – Bottom Line January 26, 2015 It’s easy to sympathise with the fears of estate agents concerned with a property market increasingly cornered by the duopoly of Rightmove and Zoopla. But OnTheMarket seems to have missed the point of why these sites have become popular – ie. by serving the needs of buyers and sellers. OnTheMarket’s troublesome rule that bans its [...]
Huh? Rightmove offers real-time data technology as the battle of the property portals heats up December 18, 2014 As online property portals draw their battle lines in the fight for estate agent loyalty, something weird's going on. Rightmove has just offered the technical specifications for its real-time data feed to its rivals. For free. It might sound like a small thing, but in an industry where technology is moving fast, Rightmove's speedy listings [...]
Rightmove stays bullish despite cooling down of housing market November 6, 2014 Property website Rightmove yesterday said it had a confident outlook for the full year, as more agents and developers used its service to advertise despite signs of a cooling housing market. In a trading update for the four months to 31 October, Rightmove said its membership had grown two per cent since the first half [...]
EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou launches Rightmove killer easyProperty September 9, 2014 Airline entrepreneur Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has unveiled his latest no-frills business idea, an online estate agent called easyProperty. The venture, for which he is seeking crowdfunded capital, will rival relative newcomers Rightmove and Zoopla in a bid to unseat traditional estate agents by offering cut price services. Users of the website will be able to [...]
OnTheMarket: Estate agents to launch new site to rival Zoopla and Rightmove July 16, 2014 A group of estate agents yesterday announced that they had joined forces to create an online property portal to challenge the dominance of Zoopla and Rightmove. They said the portal would launch in January under the name OnTheMarket. Agents’ Mutual was founded last year by some of Britain’s biggest estate agencies, including Knight Frank and [...]