Property website Onthemarket.com has launched with the aim of becoming a destination for homebuyers and renters looking for a new pad. It’s been set up by estate agents who hope it will break the duopoly of Rightmove and Zoopla – and cost them less to list on.
The site has caused controversy by forcing agents who use it to choose between the other two instead of listing on all three – if you are selling a house make sure you ask your agent where it is being advertised, and that you are happy with the answer. Ultimately, its success will hinge on how many homes it can show would-be buyers. We took a look at the numbers on launch day, and what other features it had to offer, versus the two main players.
Onthemarket
Number of homes for sale None of the sites advertise a figure for the total number of properties listed, so we looked to see what was available on a local level. Zoopla makes this easiest, showing exact figures for England downwards, but Rightmove and Onthemarket favour the more opaque “1000+”, so we chose three postcodes and searched for any property for sale within a mile. They were N1 9GU (north London), BS1 3AD (central Bristol) and NE1 5DH (central Newcastle). The search defaults to properties within a quarter of a mile of the chosen postcode – you can adjust this at the top of the results page.
In N1 9GU the site listed 29 properties; in BS1 3AD there were six and in NE1 5DH there were 39.
It’s worth bearing in mind that a property will be counted twice if it is listed with two separate estate agents, so the more agents using a portal, the more chance of double-counting.
Search options At first it’s not easy to see how big your search area is if you search on a postcode – there’s no option to choose “within half-a-mile” or similar on the front page, but you get the option on the results page.From the front page you can choose max and min price, type of property and number of bedrooms, then narrow that search down on the results page. The filters are tailored to match the results, which is neat, and you can opt to narrow your search to a houseboat or off-plan apartment, which means a more directed search than the others offer.
Results For each property you get a page with photos, details, agents’ contact information – just as you would expect. You can see the property on a map, look at it on Streetview and see a list of recent sold prices nearby. You can choose to see schools and stations on the map.
Extra features There’s a separate section to search for sold prices and the data goes back a long way – I searched on my own postcode and found how much homes had changed hands since 1995. The more recent sales give a useful picture of the market, but for nosiness the historic prices are interesting to have. There’s a blog with advice on buying and renting,
Mobile There’s no app yet. The mobile-version of the site is easy to navigate and quick to load.
Rightmove
Number of homes for sale Within a quarter of a mile of N1 9GU the site listed 78 properties; in BS1 3AD there were 12 and in NE1 5DH there were 89.
Search options You go through an extra page before getting results on Rightmove, but that does allow you to narrow your search down more quickly. You can choose how far around the postcode you want to search, specify max and min price, number of bedrooms and property type, but also search for a shared ownership or retirement home, and opt to see homes that are under offer.
Results Alongside photos, floorplans, and so on, the page for each property shows the distance to nearby stations, which is handy if you are a commuter, and a map with local schools and links to Ofsted reports and other useful information. A new “market info” tab shows you other similar properties nearby which are for sale or sold recently, and there’s a link to a broadband speed checker for the neighbourhood.
Extra features There’s a blog and news section and a home ideas section for background reading. There are separate searches for overseas properties and student homes.
Mobile There’s an app, which handily stores past searches on the search page, or the mobile-version of the desktop site.
Zoopla
Number of homes for sale Within a quarter of a mile of N1 9GU the site listed 27 properties; in BS1 3AD there were seven and in NE1 5DH there were 66.
Search options The front page offers the same options as Onthemarket – you choose your postcode/area plus max and min price, type of property and number of bedrooms. You can refine the search on the results page, and even include a keyword in your search – for example if you had your heart set on a converted church you could tailor the results to find one.
Results Once you land on a property you can get details of local stations and schools, and the crime rate, as well as Zoopla data for average prices and market trends. You get a listing history showing when the property was added to the site and what price it went on for, and can see how many other people have looked at it in the past 30 days.
Extra features From the front page you can search using details of your favoured commute instead of a location to live in – you fill in details of where you work, how far you are willing to travel and how, and it makes suggestions. There are local residents’ ratings of an area on the results pages, and info on average asking prices for different types of property in the neighbourhood. You can also order your search by the “most reduced” if you like to hunt for bargains.
Mobile There’s an app and a mobile-version of the website.
Onthemarket has the easiest mobile site to do a quick search on, but the other two have very straightforward apps. The new site has fewer properties and less background information currently.
What do you think? Which is your go to site, and what do you think of the latest player?
• This article was amended on 26 January 2015. An earlier version stated that there was no way to alter the search area on Onthemarket and that there was no information on schools or stations. This has been corrected.