Rightmove is currently removing properties at the rate of 1,000 a day from its website
It says that they are out-of-date listings identified by its new data quality programme, which was rolled out at the start of December.
The out-of-date properties are both sales and rentals.
Director Miles Shipside said: “While some websites are looking to boost the number of properties they display, quality as well as quantity of information gives a site true credibility.
“Properties that have been let some time ago or sales that have already been completed are misleading if they are left online and highly frustrating for home-hunters. Out of date stock has persistently been one of the main topics of complaint when it comes to online property advertising, so improving data quality has always been on Rightmove’s radar.”
Rightmove’s data quality team uses a variety of tools to detect out-of-date listings. Properties listed for sale are matched against Land Registry records to check if they are sold and completed.
They are also removed if they have been listed as ‘Sold Subject To Contract’ for over six months. In lettings a similar check is in place to remove properties listed as ‘Let Agreed’ for longer than six weeks. The data quality team also acts on listing and data quality queries sent in by agents and consumers.
Shipside said: “Ensuring the listings on our site are kept up to date is also very important from a competitor analysis point of view as a lot of agents rely on Rightmove’s web data to get an accurate overview of their local market via RightmovePlus and the Agent Competitor analysis tool.”
In addition to Rightmove’s internal data quality detection, a new ‘spotted an error’ notification service was also introduced last year.
This has resulted in just under 750 emails a month being sent directly to agents from consumers to ask for corrected data: 16% of these emails are regarding imagery and floor plans, with a further 12% sent to query a property’s ‘property type’ definition.
Shipside added: “The steady level of ‘spotted an error’ emails being sent underlines how important accurate listings are to home hunters. The data we are collecting from this correspondence means we can share insights with agents on which areas of their property advertising they should concentrate on and improve.”
Comments
'Welcome to the "I've Got an Internet Stalker" Club, by the way... ;o)'
He hates me. His wife loves me.
Indeed PeeBee, like the proverbial fly round the you-know-what.
His/her contribution is less-than-zero and seems incapable of debating the point in hand.
Quite why you'd ostracise both EAs and non-EAs is beyond me.
Why do people lie so much? Is it culture, is it society, is it just pillocks like some idiot calling himself Sibley or Jonnie or wardy etc , the prat in the corner of the pub no one likes, just feeling, for once, they are equal when if only they realised they are still the prat in the corner of the pub! Very sad.
Sibley's...: " In the previous paragraph they also infer listings available for sale are checked against Land Registry - no definitive timescale is mentioned though."
Mon ami - if only Rightmove DID what they say they do!
In order to check their listings against LR data they would need firstly massive resource that I am sure they have chosen not to employ; also it would require EVERY address on their system to be 100% correct - which I can personally guarantee is not the case!
Welcome to the "I've Got an Internet Stalker" Club, by the way... ;o)
Surveyors take comps from last 6 months, anything older is just an EA who is not consistently selling trying to big himself up and the information is also irrelevant.
People want to look at sold to see what the real prices are, sellers still get blinded by the 'yes but your house is so much nicer' if they are so inclined.
The only other reason EAs would want them in there is to 'persuade' the gullable that their how is worth less than it is for an easy sale.
This is probably the first and last time I would say that RM are correct.
"How many people on here know you as Joel?"
Hmmm... a multiple answer question.
1. Anyone who reads and remembers what he writes in his posts. He offered the information some time ago to, if I remember rightly, PoTW.
2. Who gives a shizzle? As far as I am concerned he has a right to be known - and called - what he wants.
What do you expect - people to go rushing to the Electoral Register and look him up? Can't be more than a few thousand 'Joels' in the country, can there?
While you're on - have a look for me. Clue - I'm NOT listed as PeeBee - just to make it a bit easier. When you find me - let Mr Realising Reality in on it as he is the only other person in the world who wants to know who I am!
Clearly, anyone reading this article.
How many people on here know you as Joel?
Anon, this was a year or two ago; principle still stands though.
Even if i did buy now (you may recall I had a mortgage application rejected Autumn last year) i'd still hope and expect prices to fall further.
In any event, I don't mind a bit of banter so long as I know whom i'm bantering with.
as the smart and rational Crasher I thought you might enjoy a gentle but harmless tug of your chain. Surely you can see the irony that one of the very blokes who has the world think that waiting just a few more months will see the whole UK market crash with widespread BTL portfolio reposession, is suddenly irritated that the place he and mrs Joel have an interest in is suddenly sale agreed to someone else?
My properties on Rightmove? snigger! I won't sell nuffink while the prices are so artificially low
That's not my interpretation PeeBee, yes they check SSTC (over six months old) and Let Agreed (over six weeks old).
In the previous paragraph they also infer listings available for sale are checked against Land Registry - no definitive timescale is mentioned though.
I may stand corrected, mind.
Sibley's... one small but vital flaw in your reasoning, mon ami.
Inorder for the properties to be removed, they MUST be first marked up as SSTC/Let Agreed etc!
If the Agent doesn't do that for some unknown and otherwise crazy reason - they stay on the site for you to get hot under the collar about! ;o)
Hit a nerve have I anon? How many listings has RM removed of yours then?
more amazing is that Joel (S's B C) is looking for a property!
Ros please run a newsflash, "Crasher in desperate search of Property"
Long term HPC'er Sibley expressed his frustration on missing out on properies he wished to view, in a short but blunt statement said
"It's bloody annoying when I contact agents to view props on RM (which are not marked SSTC) only to be told they are no longer on the market."
He went on to dismiss the notion that all is faffing about on EAT with waffle about a House Price Crash were at the root of his missing the boat!
I agree whole-heartedly with this exercise. It's bloody annoying when I contact agents to view props on RM (which are not marked SSTC) only to be told they are no longer on the market.
Ineptitude on behalf of the EA or cynically leaving props on to boost their presence; who knows.
This isn't just a particular EA.
wardy - I agree with you with regard to the willy waving rights for 'sold' properties being a main reason why Agents would want their properties kept on RM - however surely in order for a prospective buyer (or seller, for that matter...) to be able to see what has sold over a period of time is not such a bad thing?
You know this better than me - what options are there for tagging a resi property? Just Under Offer and SSTC - or is there a 'Sold' flag as well?
Rental properties are different, I would suggest. The fact that one is currently Let Agreed means nothing unless it has several months left on the Agreement. As with the resi properties, it also gives interested parties an insight into 'the going rate' - maybe even a better one than those which are still available?
Shipside's comment "Properties that have been let... or sales that have already been completed are misleading if they are left online and highly frustrating for home-hunters." is ridiculous. It is NOT misleading - it is stating fact.
And if 'consumers' asking to have the information included in a search then bleating that it is frustrating is so much of a problem to RM then they should remove the search option totally!
If Mr Shipside REALLY wants to offer "quality, not quantity" of information on the website, then he should refrain from making his monthly MDT comments on the state of the market in my opinion!
Rah rah, Wardy supports RM! You have been told.
In my view most of the 'extras" that RM try to sell to agents are not worth the money (possible exception is the agents logo on a property and floorplans)
Some agents are saying that it is not necessary to advertise in print at all anymore? .
Whatever anyone says, whether a seller of a buyer, they have to make a concious EFFORT to access the RM information. This is good and works well for buyers who will access frequently. But for sellers portal log-on probably comes a little later in the selection of an agent procedure?
Buyers:- RM maybe first - but it means a concious effort to access.
Sellers:- Local Newpapers and Mags (especially freebies) can be important at the start of selection of their agent - no concious effort to access initial information. Followed by RM access etc. etc. to cement their choice?
Some will say 'nonsense', but it is just a thought gentlemen!
I can’t see a reason why SSTC properties over six months old would be a benefit to the consumer. Surveyor’s maybe but not the consumer. Apart from anything else it’s a misdescription to say a property is SSTC after it completes. There is only one reason why an agent would want their completed stock showing online. Bragging rights.
Clean it up, get rid of the tat.
As I said when this was first announced, a simple case of the tail wagging the dog.
The good old RM Account Manager spewed the usual MDT about it "enhancing the user experience" - but at the end of the day, to view 'Let' or 'Sale Agreed' properties, the user has to specifically tick a box - so it is THEIR decisionto include these properties in their search - and Rightmove are therefore spoiling their user experience.
Needless to say - this fell on deaf ears at the Ivory Tower of RM.
The product, I cannot knock. The service - well...
They'd last twenty minutes tops in a real customer-centric job.
Is Rightmove's PR agency brief based on pissing off and patronising agents? If so, they are doing a marvellous job.
Once again, well done Shippy!
who has saved himself £2500 a month by withdrawing from Rightmove one has to suspect that some of the Properties being removed from RM are not an in house cleansing operation blah blah quality over quantity but are in fact the first signs that Agents have realised that their business can survive without a RM presence.
The single reason RM has to, is being forced to remove, the dead wood is because as a search tool it has simply become an indication of Agents covering a search area. Property searching in Rightmove from an Applicant's point of view is frustratinly unworkable because often the same multi listed property will appear and apearand appear. I look for the agents once and favourite their individual sites.
Perehaps while Miles is trying to get some positive PR while the Zoopla, DPG are up to their collective necks in EveningStandardGate he could do with coming clean on how many actual applicants are looking at his site. None of us think that 25% of the UK population is spending best part of an hour looking at RM.
As long as the properties are clearly marked SOLD or ALREADY LET and assuming prospective buyers are narrow in their postcode search and can read where is the problem?