Product and Services Roundup: Idealista, Immobiliare.it, MyHome.ie, Zoopla, Jitty

It's bad news for Spanish portals at the start of this week's Product Roundup.

Europe: Major Spanish portals all fail "fraudulent listing" test

All of Spain's major real estate portals failed a fraudulent listings test last week, after the Spanish Consumer Organisation (OCU) deliberately posted a fake advertisement for a rental property.

OCU announced that it had placed an advertisement on eight platforms for a fake apartment with a fabricated identity. The listing also included a heavily inflated price to force the listing to appear suspicious.

Yet none of the tested portals, including idealista and Fotocasa, detected it.

Online Marketplaces has contacted OCU for additional comment.

Idealista adds landlord insurance in Portugal

Idealista has added a landlord insurance product in Portugal, offering landlords coverage for unpaid rent, property damage and legal costs should the landlord struggle to evict a tenant.

Idealista's blog post says the new product is available for anyone who is leasing out a property, at an average cost of 3%-5% of the annual rent.

The insurance product provides coverage for 12 monthly payments, guaranteed in case of tenant default; damage caused to the home up to €3,000; and fully-covered legal defence costs. Idealista partnered with insurance providers MetLife and Arag to provide the service.

Javier Vázquez Moar, business development manager for insurance at idealista, said:

"The rental market is constantly growing, with demand exceeding supply, making it essential to have the right tools to quickly identify the ideal tenant and avoid problems with rent payments."

The product is already available in Spain.

Immobiliare.it strengthens partnership with Engel & Völkers

Engel & Völkers Italia has signed a framework agreement with Immobiliare.it, formalising a national partnership with Italy’s leading property portal.

The agreement marks an evolution of the companies’ existing collaboration and introduces a centralised model for managing portal subscriptions across more than 100 Engel & Völkers shops in Italy. Previously, portal relationships were handled independently by local Market Centres and Licence Partners.

Paolo Giabardo, General Manager of Immobiliare.it, said:

"The strengthening of our partnership with Engel & Völkers Italia, a leading player in luxury real estate, confirms Immobiliare.it's commitment to supporting industry professionals. Thanks to advanced technologies, high-quality visibility tools, and customised solutions, we intend to support the entire E&V network in offering the best digital tools and increasingly effective service to end customers."

Muhannad Al Salhi, CEO of Engel & Völkers Italia, said:

"The partnership with Immobiliare.it represents a natural evolution of our growth and continuous innovation. We have chosen to invest in a platform that offers not only great visibility, but also advanced tools to enhance our properties and support our consultants and end clients. This alliance allows us to strengthen the competitiveness of our network, increasing our digital presence and improving the quality of service offered, to provide an even more comprehensive and personalised customer experience."

The model aims to streamline operations while preserving local market autonomy. Each Engel & Völkers shop will maintain tailored visibility and positioning strategies aligned with its territory and target audience.

Engel & Völkers is a global real estate brand specialising in the brokerage of high-end residential and commercial properties, luxury yachts, and private aircraft. Founded in 1977, the company operates a network of more than 16,700 professionals and leverages digital tools and AI to support sales, leasing, and investment advisory services.

Immobiliare is Italy’s largest real estate group, operating consumer portals including Immobiliare.it, Trovacasa.it, MioAffitto, and LuxuryEstate.com.

United Kingdom: MyHome and Doddl.ie launch end-to-end mortgage service

MyHome.ie and digital mortgage broker Doddl.ie have launched Mortgage Hub, a first-of-its-kind online platform designed to guide Irish homebuyers from property search through to mortgage approval and conveyancing.

The launch coincides with record mortgage activity. According to the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI), mortgage approvals reached €16.7 billion in the year to August 2025. Meanwhile, data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows the median age of buyers has risen to 40, with joint applications now accounting for the majority of transactions.

A KPMG survey commissioned by Doddl.ie identified the top buyer frustrations as prolonged approval times, complex documentation, and delays during conveyancing.

Mortgage Hub aims to streamline these stages through a single platform offering affordability tools, digital document storage, online applications, and integrated legal support.

According to Doddl.ie CEO Martina Hennessy:

"Knowledge is power and with more mortgage-ready buyers entering the market and supply remaining constrained, would-be homeowners need to arm themselves with as many tools as possible. This partnership with MyHome offers home buyers in Ireland an end-to-end service that spans the entire home-buying journey – home search, mortgage advice, and digital conveyancing. For a generation of digital-first buyers, the ultimate aim is to simplify and demystify the process and help them secure a home as efficiently as possible."

MyHome Managing Director Joanne Geary said:

"Researching, planning and securing a mortgage is a long and often difficult process. We want to do everything we can to make it easier and the Mortgage Hub gives people all the information they need in one clear and accessible place."

The service is now live and free to access via MyHome.ie. Broadcaster Muireann O’Connell, who used Doddl.ie during her recent home purchase, participated in the launch.

Zoopla COO pens internal letter to agents

Zoopla's Chief Operating Officer, Rich Hayes, has shared a letter to the portal's customer agents highlighting the company's strategic direction for real estate professionals in the United Kingdom.

The portal will focus on three core strategic pillars: vendor leads from high-intent audiences; increased investment in its Prospect Plus product; and AI-powered listing engagement.

Hayes' letter reports that more than 120,000 new homeowners join its platform each month, with over 4.8 million now tracking their home value and buyer demand.

The letter also outlined the newly launched Prospect Plus product, designed to connect agents with sellers showing clear transactional intent. Zoopla claims the product is linked to listings representing over £2 billion in sales commission. According to early usage data, branches using Prospect Plus are converting 43% of leads into instructions.

Finally, Zoopla is testing AI features to optimise listing performance. Initial experiments show an 80% increase in listing views when AI tools are applied. The company says it will continue to roll out AI enhancements selectively, based on observed value to agents.

Jitty adds messaging and full descriptions to agent-fed listings

Jitty has introduced two incremental updates to improve listing quality and consumer engagement on properties provided via direct agent data feeds.

First, prospective buyers can now contact agents directly from Jitty's listing page without needing to leave the platform.

Second, listings now display full property descriptions as supplied by the agent. These longer-form blurbs are intended to provide additional context and detail for buyers evaluating shortlists.

Jitty recently closed a funding round led by REA Group.