There's a new buzzword floating around: PropTech. This portmanteau is a rather vague concept but refers generally to the digital transformation of the property industry. It describes the way the property sector has harnessed technology to improve the services it offers to buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants.

One of these improvements has been the rapid development of property portals.


What is a portal?

The word 'portal' has become synonymous with some websites. The word denotes a gateway or door, and it is apt as it allows those seeking information to enter a site that has plenty of information about the subject they are researching. This is what makes a property search portal popular with people who are looking to buy or sell a house.

But how have the top property portals become so powerful in the process of buying and selling a property? The reason is simply that the two biggest property portals, Rightmove and Zoopla, were among some of the earliest portals to enter the market. Ten years ago, Rightmove had already established itself as the top property portal, while Zoopla was very much the new kid on the block.

The property portal block was a busy one, with many niche portals entering the market. However, in time, many of these newcomers disappeared. Some folded, and others changed their business plans and were taken over by other portals. This left Rightmove and Zoopla as the top two, with OnTheMarket challenging them for third place.

However, many people who are not involved in the property business or the process of buying or selling a property will be asking themselves what exactly do these property portals do?


What do the portals do?

Property portals are a platform for estate agents to advertise the properties on their books. The aim was to replace newspapers as the main platform estate agents to advertise on. The internet allows estate agents to reach a far wider market than any newspaper, local or national.


Are portals still relevant?

Once property portals were the cutting edge of PropTech; now they are considered middle-aged in terms of technology. There are other technologies ready to replace them as marketing platforms. Where property portals advertise properties online, the final buying and selling process is completed offline. These new technologies aim to transform this. Traditional estate agencies should aim to cherry pick the best ideas and move forward with them.


Social media

Some people believe social media could prove a threat to property portals. Someone selling an FSBO (For Sale by Owner) property could use a social media site such a Facebook to advertise their home for very little cost.

A seller with a modest following of 60 followers could let them know they are looking for a buyer. If these followers each have 50 followers, the seller has the potential to reach 3,000 people in a very short time. If only 1% of these show an interest, that is 30 potential buyers.


The future

Of course if one of these interested parties makes an offer, there will be some offline work to be done, but who knows what future young entrepreneur, at present still at school, will come up with to solve that problem.

So although property portals still have considerable influence in the property business, there is every chance this influence will wane and maybe disappear in the future.

Whatever the future holds there will always be a place for a forward-thinking estate agent to give people advice on their property transactions. Contact our agents today.