A City analyst has said that he expects net churn from Zoopla agents to OnTheMarket to stop in the second half of this year, meaning that new members joining Zoopla will be larger in number than those leaving.

However, yesterday William Packer, of Exane BNP Paribas, also said that Agents’ Mutual – or OnTheMarket – is “here to stay”, with all three of the big portal players set to grow.

His analysis upgrades target prices for both Rightmove and Zoopla, but also casts doubt on any assumption that OTM agents who have left Zoopla will return to it.

His report adds that Rightmove remains a key pick for investors and says that while Zoopla is showing “encouraging” improvement in inventory, it is “stretched” in valuation.

Despite Zoopla’s improvement – up 8% from its “trough” in February – Exane estimates that the inventory on Zoopla is still 26% below last November’s levels and 70% of what Rightmove lists.

Exane also acknowledges Zoopla’s strong share price performance over the last three months.

The report compares Rightmove with Autotrader, saying that they are two of the strongest business models in the European media.

The report says: :Both Rightmove and Autotrader are the dominant digital classified in their respective verticals, with strong completive leads in both audience and inventory.:

The report observes: “Moreover, both serve highly fragmented customer bases that are navigating rapidly changing consumer habits. Critically, whilst both are important lead generators for their respective client bases, Rightmove’s must-have status for estate agents is underpinned by its role in helping estate agents win vendor instructions.”

The report claims that Rightmove generates 55% of sales leads.

The full report, which makes interesting reading not least because it is from an analyst which has consistently followed the property portal market, is here