Zoopla Property has seen a 23% fall in the number of its agency members after the launch of a rival portal.
A consortium of estate agents launched their OnTheMarket portal in January, allowing its members to list on only one other site. Many opted for Rightmove rather than Zoopla, pushing Zoopla’s agency members down from 16,261 to 12,449 year on year at the end of the first half.
A rise in developer, commercial and overseas members mitigated some of the fall, leaving total member numbers down 16%. Zoopla said total churn rates had slowed down in recent months and were returning to more normal historic levels. Analysts at Peel Hunt said:
As most investors will be aware, Zoopla has been the main victim of the launch of OnTheMarket (Agents Mutual). In the release, Zoopla talks about this ‘churn’ now reducing to more normal levels. This remains to be seen in our view.
Zoopla shares are currently down 5.3p at 224.7p, even as it reported a 14% rise in adjusted half year earnings to £21.4m and an 11% rise in visitor numbers. But much of the comments were made when it announced the £160m purchase of price comparison site uSwitch in April.
But chief executive Alex Chesterman told Reuters that the recent Conservative election victory was positive for the property market, allowing the recovery to continue without any major surprises.
