Rightmove claims huge lead as mobile platforms take off

Friday 26th August 2011

Use of mobile platforms to view property listings has soared in the past year.

According to comScore MobiLens, the number of people who used an app to view real estate listings grew by 63% to 780,000 from June 2010 to June 2011, with those using a mobile website to view real estate listings growing by 61% to 1.4m over the same period.

Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove which brought out an iPhone app two years ago and has since added an M-site and an iPhone app, said: “Mobile is establishing itself as a key component of the property search process for UK home-hunters.

“People want to search for property wherever they are, on their preferred mobile devices as well as their laptop or desktop computer.

“Rightmove has invested heavily in this area to ensure agents are bang up to date and can make the most of this latest shift in home-hunter behaviour.”

Use of mobile platforms to search for property dwarfed the growth of consumer brands such as Facebook, which saw mobile usage from June 2010–June 2011 grow by 41%.

Shipside said Rightmove’s dominance in website traffic has started to translate to mobile platforms.

In terms of mobile apps, comScore’s GSMA Application Key Measures recorded that in June, Rightmove had over seven times more unique visitors to its apps than FindaProperty had to theirs, and over eight times more than Zoopla.

Shipside said: “Forward-looking agents are already aware of the importance of mobile in the property search process.

“They tell us they are seeing similar awareness building amongst consumers, with vendors and landlords inquiring about how their properties will be displayed on Rightmove’s mobile platforms as well as the website.”