Property Portal New Product Roundup: Rightmove, Bayut, Lavanda and Zoopla

We've got all the new features tools and product developments from portal and Proptech companies around the world this week...

Bayut

Market and Position - The EMPG owned market leader (along with generalist Dubizzle)

New Feature - Bayut users can now consult previous transaction and rental contract data on the portals listings pages to get a better idea about value.

Context - Following upstart rival Houza's announcement last week that it had implemented a similar tool with government data, it was never going to be long before other portals in the country looked to bring in more data around historical transactions.

Rightmove

Market and Position - Market leader in the UK

New Feature - Rightmove has released a new feature in its MyRightmove user area that allows users to organise property listings into lists.

The idea behind giving users the ability to group properties is to give them a way to consider different areas, price ranges and property features.

MyRightmove Product Owner , Matt Renton, said: “Being able to sort saved properties into various lists is one of most commons requests we receive from people, so we’re really excited to launch this new feature and give people yet another reason to create an account.

“The millions of people who sign up for a MyRightmove account show that they’re seriously considering moving home and they’re much more likely to send leads to agents, so we’re constantly working to enhance the features that are available when people register for an account.”

The next feature in development is the ability for multiple users to search and collaborate together to find a new home in much the same way that American portals Realtor.com and Zillow allow.

Context - According to the company, some 74% of leads the portal sends to agents come from users who are signed up to a MyRightmove account. Rightmove has also announced record traffic for January with over 218 million visits to its site and apps in the month, an increase of 3%.

Aldar and Lavanda

Market and Position - Lavanda is a British PropTech company specialising in SaaS for flexible rentals in the student and multi-family market while Aldar is a leading developer in the UAE.

New Product - The two companies have teamed up to launch a new short term rentals platform in the UAE named Cloud Living. The platform is initially launching in Abu Dhabi and offering users fully furnished short term rentals with a true end-to-end service.

Hamad Mohammed Saeed Alsudain, licensing & regulatory compliance department director at the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, said: “Cloud Living is an industry-first case study in how real estate, tech and the public sector should be collaborating to design and deliver socially and economically impactful solutions that improve the experience of customers and challenge the status quo."

Context - The likes of Sonder and Blueground have made a success of the furnished short term rentals in the US and the business model has spread across the world with similar companies popping up in India and Latin America in recent times.

Zoopla / Yourkeys

Market and Position - The long-standing, privately-owned number 2 in the British portal scene. Yourkeys is the developer and agent sales platform acquired by Zoopla in April 2021.

New Product - Zoopla has announced that alongside Yourkeys it is to launch a podcast. Named 'Plot Twists' the series will focus on the issues around the home building industry in the United Kingdom such as the hidden opportunities for housebuilders, what buyers want in 2022 and how to step up customer satisfaction in three steps.

Every episode will also feature insights from Zoopla's Research and Insights department.

Context - The new builds sector is increasingly important for the British portals as listings on the secondary market dry up. Both portals and agents need to maintain good relations with developers.