Rightmove and Zoopla gaining after rival’s launch brushed off
PROPERTY portal Zoopla was the darling of the FTSE 250 again yesterday, soaring 12 per cent after rival OnTheMarket’s website launch on Monday was widely seen as a damp squib.
Many had worried that OnTheMarket (OTM), which bans participants from advertising properties with more than one rival website, would be bad news for Zoopla, pushing estate agents away from its service.
“We appreciate that it is perhaps too early to form a view on day one, but with months and months to prepare, our view is that the launch is more of a damp squib than a nuclear warhead,” wrote Jefferies in a note on Monday afternoon, citing the huge number of London properties still on Zoopla and Rightmove. “We appreciate that more listings may [arrive on OTM] in the days to come because despite having more than one year to prepare, some of OTM’s customers were not ready for the big launch.”
OTM has come under fire for what its detractors say are uncompetitive terms it imposes on agents, but boss Ian Springett says it offers “a much-needed competitor in the online property search market”.
Zoopla shares closed up at 190p while Rightmove closed up 3.9 per cent at 2,443p yesterday.