Rightmove Money-Making Machine set to hike agent fees again

Number one portal Rightmove has upgraded growth expectations in its latest statement to shareholders - and is again growing its average revenue per advertiser, or ARPA.

The statement covers the four months to the end of April this year.

The ARPA is the critical measure of how portals are faring and Rightmove’s now is £1,431 per advertiser. Rightmove expects this to grow around £100 to £110 this year and says: “There has been no change to Rightmove's longstanding approach to contract renewals and pricing, and our usual discussions in the period have proceeded as expected.” 

Rightmove anticipates customer numbers to grow 2% over 2024, compared with previous guidance of a slight decrease. Net membership has increased by around 250 since the start of the year, due to what the company calls strong agent retention and strong growth in the lettings market, where it saw 170 net growth.

The influx of 90 new home developments being added to the portal through housings associations has also beefed up overall customer figures. 

It has told shareholders that full-year revenue growth is likely to be between seven and nine per cent with an underlying operating margin target of 70%.

Sales agreed between January and April 2024 are 17% higher than the same period last year, and the portal has seen an 18% increase in rental listings availability in the first four months of 2024.

Over the most recent period Rightmove has invested in PropTech platform Coadjute, and acquired property reviews website HomeViews.

Its statement continues: “Our strategic growth areas of Mortgages, Commercial, and Rental Services are all performing in line with our expectations.  Within Mortgages, we have had a positive start to the year, with strong consumer interest and machine learning-led optimisation improving the mortgage journey for consumers and improved outcomes for our partners.  

“Our Commercial re-platforming continues at pace, with a new landing page expected later this year … Rental Services continues to see strong uptake from lettings agents, and our new Lettings customers will also build a pipeline for Rental Services going forward.

“We remain focused on building success with our agent and developer partners, providing real-time, tailored, digital solutions based on the largest UK property datasets to help them to build their businesses; free resources, training and qualification preparation for all members; and resolute focus on high-quality leads, which remain many multiples ahead of our competition.”

Chief executive Johan Svanstrom says: "Overall, we continue to expect a better year for the UK property market in 2024 than in 2023.  Within that, we see different dynamics across the many segments that we serve, with particular strength in resales.  We are pleased to see our existing and new partners recognising the value that we can deliver together.  

“We have a growing, innovative portfolio of digital services, exemplified by strong take-up of Optimiser Edge and an increase in lettings branches and affordable new homes developments.  We remain confident in achieving a year of good financial and strategic progress and are focused on driving further long-term platform growth."