homesandproperty.co.uk Breaks Away

The London Evening Standard’s established property news website, homesandproperty.co.uk, now includes a property search section. The move to launch what the newspaper describes as a property portal represents a separation from The Digital Property Group (TDPG), which previously counted homesandproperty.co.uk amongst the websites in its network.
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DPG Agency Numbers Up 44 Percent

The Digital Property Group (DPG), owner of UK property portals findaproperty.com, primelocation.com, homesandproperty.co.uk and findanewhome.com, says the number of agency branches signing up to its portals increased by 44 percent in the third quarter of 2009.
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DPG Backs ABCe Audits for UK Portals

Last month we reported on the UK’s Digital Property Group (DPG) claiming the title of the fastest growing property portal group for its four property portals combined (primelocation.com, findaproperty.com, homesandproperty.co.uk and findanewhome.com). This month DPG says it claims the title once again.
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DPG Claims “Fastest Growing” Title

We’ve done a lot of stories about which portal is the “fastest growing” in the UK, and it is not a topic that is going to vanish any time soon. UK portals both within and outside of the “big 4″ seem intent on proving their growth and strength by claiming the coveted title.
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DPG Recruits to Beat rightmove.co.uk

The Digital Property Group (DPG), owner of four UK property portals, findaproperty.com, primelocation.com, homesandproperty.co.uk and findanewhome.com, has launched a recruitment drive.
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TDPG Pricing Attracts Debate

estateagenttoday.co.uk is reporting complaints from agents over new advertising rates for portals within the The Digital Property Group.
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TDPG Optimistic About Market

The Digital Property Group (TDPG) has released data from its ‘My Home Life’ survey which collates the opinions of a core panel of 8,000 home searchers across the UK & Overseas. The company argues that the results suggest there is room for renewed estate agent optimism as seasoned buyers and investors with the finance to purchase today are showing signs of activity within the UK property market.
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findaproperty.com Launch Google Street View

It’s been a week of big name partnerships for Digital Property Group (DPG) owned UK portal, findaproperty.com.

Not only was findaproperty.com revealed as the lead partner in the McDonald’s Best Chance Monopoly nationwide promotion, but it was also selected as the only UK property portal launch partner for Google Street View.
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Digital Property Group’s Record Month

Hot on the heels of announcing increased traffic to findaproperty.com and the portal’s new marketing campaign, The Digital Property Group has revealed that its network of four property portals received a record high of over 4.42 million total unique visitors in January 2009. This is an increase on its highest previous figure of 3.76 million, and includes the highest ever traffic levels for findaproperty.com and findanewhome.com.

findaproperty.com saw 2.79 million unique visitors while findanewhome.com earned its title as the UK’s most visited new homes portal. primelocation.com saw 2,082,550 unique visitors – a figure only bettered when the market neared its peak during January – April 2007. homesandproperty.co.uk saw a 37% month-on-month increase to 629,473.

It’s not just traffic either – DPG say the company saw a total enquiry uplift of 53% between 01 – 10 January 2009 compared with the same period in February 2009, with sales telephone enquiries for primelocation.com rising by an impressive 197%. Intellitracker figures confirmed a total of 8,947,159 visits across The Digital Property Group sites in January.

Mark Milner, Chief Executive of The Digital Property Group, said of the record statistics:

“Welcoming over 4.42 million unique home buyers and renters to our portals is an extremely positive start to 2009. What is especially pleasing is this high performance is shared across all of our brands and will drive UK and International enquirers to our member agents from every level of home buyer and renter.”

“It has been widely reported that consumers are re-engaging with the property buying lifecycle in response to opportunities within every tier of today’s market. This increased interest in our websites is equally the result of long-term investment into each of our individual consumer brands and the value we deliver to our returning visitors. The Digital Property Group is independently recognised as a clear no.2 in the property portal market and we expect to keep making ground on the number one position.”

The ABCe report confirms Hitwise’s latest rankings which place DPG’s combined portals second, with a market share of 25.52% behind rightmove.co.uk who hold a mighty 40.40% market share, and ahead of propertyfinder.com who have 10.43% market share.

Digital Property Group Takes Aim at Top Position

In a coup for the Digital Property Group (DPG), Countrywide plc, the UK’s largest estate agency group has agreed to list all its networks on DPG’s portals.

With its four portals combined, DPG is the UK’s number two player. The deal means that Countrywide’s network of over 1,000 estate and lettings agents will list their properties on primelocation.com, findaproperty.com, homesandproperty.co.uk and findanewhome.com.

The four DPG websites have a share of over 25% of visits within the UK property portal market (Hitwise November 2008) and exposure to more than 3.7 million monthly home buyers and renters (ABCe September 2008).

In statement from the two companies about the deal, Mark Milner, CEO of The Digital Property Group said: “Our work with Countrywide is essential to ensure we offer visitors the widest selection of properties as we continue to close the gap on our competition to become the UK’s number one property portal”.

DPG’s recently launched Insight analytics tool brings them in line with market leader rightmove.co.uk’s ‘Rightmove Plus’ functionality. Mark Milner of DPG said: “The launch of Insight, our new analytics tool empowers our member agents to increase enquiries and instructions in today’s property market. Amongst its many features, Insight monitors consumer traffic and produces real-time property search reports to enable agents to build a balanced portfolio which matches demand. The online software also allows agents to benchmark their performance versus the local market by postcode – an invaluable tool in monitoring real-time performance whilst targeting new opportunities in today’s challenging market-place.”

Grenville Turner, Countrywide Chief Executive said: “We are delighted to announce that we have reached agreement with The Digital Property Group to list the entire Countrywide network on their portfolio of websites.”

“Previously, our estate agents had individual agreements with different portal providers. We are in the process of implementing a new, coordinated online strategy to ensure customers have the widest access to all of Countrywide’s properties. This partnership will enable our branches to extend their online presence and reach a much larger audience.”

Grenville continued: “Now is the time to extend Countrywide’s online presence and TDPG have responded to the needs of estate agents and the conditions they are currently facing. The property market has been waiting for a portal to provide bespoke reporting that offers member agents a meaningful insight into their local markets and adds real value to their performance management. This partnership with The Digital Property Group will ensure that we are well placed for the return of the property market, and we look forward to continuing this relationship throughout 2009 and beyond.”

Countrywide’s agents include high street names such as Bairstow Eves, Mann & Co, Taylors, Abbotts, Dixons, Fulfords, Bridgfords, Gascoigne Pees, John D Wood and Countrywide Residential Lettings.

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