Rightmove reports a 39% increase in half year profits
Internet-based property operation Rightmove has today announced half year profits up 39% to £24.5 million. Despite the fact that the UK property market is under pressure the internet company reported a record level of buying interest in March which appeared to remain fairly high during the often quiet summer months. Indeed the company is suggesting that trade numbers continued to grow in July and August which would appear to be against the general trend of the UK property sector.
The company operates a subscription policy whereby estate agents and independent property owners are able to list their properties on the website for a set fee. The company believes it can withstand any modest fall in transaction numbers although like any other property related business it will be susceptible to a sudden downturn in the sector. Interestingly, the company announced a 22% increase in traffic to its website with over 3.9 billion pages hits during the first six months of 2010.
While these figures are very impressive, especially set against the general trend of surveys over the last few weeks, there are still concerns regarding the performance of the UK property sector in the second half of 2010. This is the period during which many believe that property prices will come under pressure and the sector will feel further pain.
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