Rightmove pushes for growth as web traffic bump signals property revival

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Rightmove users spent an extra 1bn minutes browsing for property last year as the housing market picked up and the search platform pushed for growth after seeing off a takeover bid from Rupert Murdoch’s REA.

The company said on Friday that it ranked fourth among UK-based websites for total page views — after the BBC, Reach and gov.uk — while users spent 16.4bn minutes trawling for property, up 6 per cent from 2023.

The increase in users comes as Rightmove is under pressure to show growth having fended off a £6.2bn takeover attempt from REA, the Australian property platform controlled by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

The FTSE 100 group reduced its underlying operating profit margin to 70 per cent and raised its headcount 14 per cent in line with a strategy to invest in growth areas including commercial property, as well as mortgages and rental services.

“We think there is a lot of opportunity and runway,” said chief executive Johan Svanstrom. “For that, we need some investment.”

The most popular time to browse listings was 8.59am on a Monday, according to the company, which said many customers were “dual screening” at the start of the working day.

Rightmove has benefited from a gradual recovery in the property market since the Bank of England began cutting interest rates following a period when high mortgage costs sent transaction numbers to a decade low.

Taylor Wimpey’s chief executive Jennie Daley on Thursday said the housebuilder planned to increase its UK output to 10,400-10,800 homes in 2025, an increase of up to 8 per cent, thanks to improving sales as buyers “acclimatise to the higher interest rates” after the end of a more than decade-long era of ultra-low borrowing costs.

Rightmove said the number of housebuilders and estate agents paying to market their homes on the platform had increased just 1 per cent last year, but that revenue was up 7 per cent to £389.9mn as customers paid more for marketing packages.

HSBC analyst Rahul Chopra said in a note that investors would focus on “progress in strategic growth areas” as the challenge from REA — and from US group CoStar’s acquisition of UK rival OnTheMarket — failed to dent Rightmove.

The company said revenue from its new business lines — including commercial property listings, helping landlords set up rental agreements through a digital platform and its mortgage-in-principle service — had risen 27 per cent to £23.4mn.

Rightmove shares were up 3.5 cent in early London trading.