OnTheMarket has reported substantial growth metrics two years after its acquisition by US-based data group CoStar, though industry analysts caution that capturing significant market share from established competitors remains a challenge.
CoStar acquired the property portal in December 2023 for £100 million, stating its intention to challenge Rightmove’s position as the UK’s leading property portal.
Traffic and listing figures
The portal has reported a 55% increase in visits and a 110% rise in page views compared to 2023 figures. Properties listed on the platform increased by 47%, while sales lead generation rose by 94%.
The company also reported that property alerts sent to users doubled over the two-year period. CoStar invested £46.5 million in sales and marketing during the first year following the acquisition.
Jason Tebb, President at OnTheMarket, said: “These initial two years have focused on fortifying the fundamentals that matter most to our customers: mobilising almost £50m of committed investment to build inventory, enhance web traffic and engagement from serious property seekers, and increase quality lead generation.”
Market analyst perspective
Dan Coatsworth, Head of Markets at AJ Bell, described the results as indicative of what can occur when a larger parent company applies established business practices to a smaller acquisition.
“CoStar is well versed in knowing how to get the most from marketing, and slotting OnTheMarket into its ecosystem appears to have worked wonders,” Coatsworth said.
However, he added a note of caution: “The big increase in sales leads and website traffic might have been easy wins. The first thing for any acquirer is to go for the low hanging fruit, making small adjustments here and there to deliver stronger results. Now comes the hard part to meaningfully take market share from Rightmove and Zoopla, and that could be a long, hard journey.”
The UK property portal market remains dominated by Rightmove and Zoopla, with OnTheMarket positioned as the third-largest player following CoStar’s investment and restructuring efforts.