OnTheMarket experiences record traffic due to agents' low-cost, shorter contracts

According to an article on Estate Agent Today, the UK's OnTheMarket has reported that as of September 30th, a total of 2,346 branches have converted to full-paying contracts, paying an average of £288 per month. An approximate 42% of all agents are under long-term contracts of three or five years.

However, after the lower rate long-term contracts were swept up, OnTheMarket also introduced shorter, lower-cost contracts, which has 'accelerated' sign-ups. These members are typically paying £203 per month.

The group's revenue of £8 million was up 14% on the same period last year, however, it reports an operating loss of £7.2 million, up from £5.7 million. Costs for the portal were also on the rise by 23%, climbing to £14.8 million.

OnTheMarket's total number of offices was 12,622 as of September 30, 2019, a figure which reflects the recruitment of new agents and offsets the removal of agents on free trials which expired.

The portal reports record traffic figures for September, with 27.2 million visits. It says prompted awareness of its brand is up to 50% from 27% in June 2018.

When it comes to listings, the portal reports 641,672 at the end of September. This figure represents approximately 85% of Zoopla's and 64% of Rightmove's inventory. 

Its monthly average leads per UK residential property advertiser rose to 112 in September. Meanwhile, Rightmove's fell to 168 in H1 2019, while it says Zoopla's last reported equivalent figure was 90 in H1 2018.

Read more here.

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