Estate agents in Northern Ireland are concerned that the planned merger of two of the countries largest property portals will lead to higher listing fees
PropertyPal announced a strategic merger with Propertynews last week, but Elaine Pooler said estate agents across Northern Ireland had been ‘blindsided’ by the announcement.
The deal will see the two sites continue to operate under new ownership, headed up by PropertyPal’s chief executive, Jordan Buchanan, but agents are concerned that this will lead to higher listing fees and are now taking advice on the possibility of making a formal complaint to the UK’s competition watchdog, the CMA.
“They now have a free rein to do whatever they like with their prices,” said Pooler. “Those prices get passed onto to our clients who are the people selling their houses.”
A source familiar with PropertyPal pricing has said that currently agents in Northern Ireland pay fees per property that are about a fifth of that charged by the big UK portals and about a third of what agents pay to portals in the Republic of Ireland.
Earlier this year some estate agents launched a boycott of PropertyPal after it announced a new system for charging for listings.
Meanwhile, a challenger firm, HomesNI, is due to officially launch next month.
It has been founded by Stephen Cousins, a businessman who runs the a web design firm, BlueCubes.
He said: “We’ve been working with estate agents for over 17 years, delivering bespoke website design and online services.
“BlueCubes already works closely with over 60 Estate Agency Groups in Northern Ireland and we’ve been listening to their issues and their desire for something new and fresh.”
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