Trade Me claims quarter share of property listings nationwide

Friday 19th August 2016

Trade Me Group claims its property pages have a quarter share of the national spend on classified property advertising, according to its latest 2016 full-year financial results, three years on from a stoush with real estate agents over listing fees.

The online marketplace and classified advertising company yesterday reported a 9.2 percent uplift in overall revenue to $218 million and a 3.5 percent rise in underlying profit to $83 million, driven by a return to revenue growth in its general items marketplace and a strong performance from its classifieds business which includes property, motors, and jobs.

Trade Me Property remains New Zealand’s most visited real estate website and reported a 16 percent revenue increase on the prior year to $31.8 million. That's up from $19 million in 2012.

That amounts to 25 percent of New Zealand’s annual $129 million classified property ad spending. Half of the spending still comes in print rather than online although Trade Me chief executive Jon Macdonald said classified advertising continues to transition from print to online. That’s more evident in jobs and motors advertising than property as yet.

In 2013 Trade Me moved from an “all-you-can-eat” rate to a per-listing fee for agents, as it already had for private sellers. Some agents faced big cost increases, leading to boycotts in some areas and a Trade Me back down the next year to offer both options.

It also led to the Commerce Commission filing court proceedings late last year against 13 national and regional real estate agencies alleging price-fixing and anti-competitive agreements in response to Trade Me’s fee changes. So far, Bayleys, Hamilton-based Success Realty, and Manawatu-based Unique Realty have settled with the commission with court-imposed penalties totalling $4.35 million and the remaining cases are still before the courts.

Macdonald said the take up by agents is now around half and half for each fee option depending on whether agents passed on or absorbed marketing costs on behalf of sellers.

Trade Me’s property listings market share was improving, Macdonald said, though its leadership position is patchy nationwide and still low in some regions.

Agent For Sale listings have grown 11 percent in the past year, though lower growth of 8 percent in the second half reflected a trend in the market rather than dropping market share, Macdonald said. Around 10 percent of listings come direct from sellers rather than through agents.

“We’re making good progress but we still have a lot to do,” he said.

Its main rival in the market for online property listings is realestate.co.nz.

Macdonald said there had been a “heartening” response with more than 2,500 registrations by property professionals to the site’s OneHub portal launched in April that provides individual agents with a platform to build their profile and gain insights into buyer behaviour and listing performance.

Trade Me Property also rolled out free sale price and rating valuation data to consumers during the year.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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