Shares in the group rose 6 per cent in Monday morning trading as it said it is now expecting average revenues per advertiser over the full year of between £112 and £116, above the earlier guidance of £103-£105, led largely by new home developers
Online real estate firm Rightmove has increased a key revenues target as it cheered strong demand despite “uncertainty” in the housing market and declining property prices.
Shares in the group rose 6 per cent in Monday morning trading as it said it is now expecting average revenues per advertiser over the full year of between £112 and £116, above the earlier guidance of £103-£105, led largely by new home developers.
It said this is helping raise overall revenues, with sales growth continuing to “marginally” beat expectations since it reported half-year figures in July.
Rightmove said both estate agent subscriptions and new homes development listings have remained steady, with its so-called share of consumer time also unchanged so far in its second half, at nearly 85 per cent.
It has kept its broader full-year outlook unchanged, saying it remains “at least” in line with prior guidance for revenue growth of 8 per cent-10 per cent and underlying earnings growth of 7 per cent-8 per cent.
Chief executive Johan Svanstrom said: The momentum that we reported in July has continued through Q3 and beyond.
He hailed “the strength of our performance against an uncertain market backdrop”, which “illustrates the resilience of our business model in all phases of the property market cycle”.
It comes despite a slowdown in the housing market, with recent official data showing prices dropped annually for the first time in a decade.
The average UK house price dropped 0.1 per cent to £291,000 in the 12 months to September 2023, as per the ONS.
It follows 14 successive interest rate hikes that have taken the base rate to 5.25 per cent, although the BoE has now paused the barrage of hikes and focus is turning to when the central bank may begin to cut rates next year.
