Zoopla reports a post-election housing boost
PROPERTY website Zoopla said that the Conservatives’ success at the General Election is helping the housing market, as the company announced a rise in profits yesterday.
Zoopla saw adjusted core earnings rise 14 per cent to £21.4m in the six months to the end of March.
The company’s chief executive Alex Chesterman said that the Tories’ surprise majority had removed uncertainty from the housing market in recent weeks. The market had displayed slowdown over worries that a Labour government would introduce an annual tax on high-value properties and eliminate “non-dom” status for certain homeowners
Chesterman said the Tory win prompted increased consumer traffic to the Zoopla website and a jump in the number of properties coming to market.
But Chesterman added that despite a post-election bounce, Zoopla has been losing some of its market share to rival websites over the last six months. One key player, OnTheMarket, only allows its members to list on one other website. With many OnTheMarket users opting for Rightmove as their second choice, Zoopla has lost 23 per cent of its agents, compared to the same period last year.
Chesterman said, however, that his firm was winning back former agents, and that he expected to see net gains into the summer.
The share price fell 2.9 per cent yesterday to 223p, just above its market float price of 220p last autumn.