OnTheMarket loses more than 1,000 branches it took from Zoopla
More than 1,000 estate agency branches that abandoned Zoopla for rival OnTheMarket (OTM) have returned to the online giant, it said. Mark Goddard, managing director of Zoopla parent ZPG Property Services, said agents had returned because they "increasingly understand that they are at a competitive disadvantage when not partnering with us". Zoopla said it now has 14,750 agency branches. Arun Estates could become the first major agent to list on all three of the UK's major portals after recently striking a five-year deal with OTM.

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The number of estate agency branches that left Zoopla to join OnTheMarket when it launched in 2015 but have subsequently left OTM to rejoin ZPG has now reached more than 1,000.

Zoopla said yesterday that it now has over 14,750 agency branches.

It claimed that OTM’s branch numbers have fallen from a high of 6,500 to a new low of 5,500 branches.

The most recent agencies to rejoin ZPG include eleven Martin & Co branches, six Hurford Salvi Carr branches in London and five Andrew Milsom branches covering the Thames Valley and Chiltern Hills.

ZPG’s announcement came after it recently signed long-term listing agreements with Countrywide and Connells.

Mark Goddard, managing director of ZPG Property Services, said: “We are continuing to see agencies from around the country rejoining ZPG on a weekly basis as agents increasingly understand that they are at a competitive disadvantage when not partnering with us.”

In September 2014, before OTM’s launch, Zoopla had 16,373 branches listing.

This number fell to 12,902 at OTM’s launch towards the end of January 2015.

OTM implemented a ‘one other portal’ rule at launch, which it still operates today.

Zoopla’s membership figure did not pick up over OTM’s first year of operation – and in fact fell slightly, with 12,841 UK agency offices listing on Zoopla by January 31, 2016.

OTM has recently been quiet on its overall membership number, but has announced a five-year listing deal with the 100-branch Arun Estates group.

This is conditional on OTM’s stock market listing when the ‘one other portal’ rule will be dropped – meaning that Arun currently looks as though it will be the first major agent to be listing on all three major portals.

EYE has approached OTM for comment about Zoopla’s latest claims.