Zoopla: Hometrack makes us UK's "most valuable property resource"

Zoopla Property Group’s £120m purchase of Hometrack, announced yesterday evening, is part of its aim to create “the UK’s most valuable residential property resource”, the portal group says.

The acquisition - which we covered here yesterday - means ZPG now has a massive stake in the growing automated valuation industry.

Hometrack carries out no fewer than 20 million automated property valuations per year in the UK and Australia combined. 

Hometrack provides data - ranging from market information and analytics to valuations and monthly indices - to over 400 partners including mortgage lenders, new home developers, investors, housing associations and local authorities. Its Insight Director, Richard Donnell, is one of the country’s leading and most respected housing market analysts.

The announcement came yesterday after the close of trading on the London Stock Market; all eyes will today be on Zoopla’s share price in today’s trading.

Hometrack currently partners with 15 of the top 20 mortgage lenders in the UK as well as all four leading Australian mortgage lenders.

The business, which generated revenues of £15.5m in the year to 30 June 2016, has 55 staff operating out of offices in London and Sydney.

ZPG says the acquisition is “another step in [its] mission to be the most effective partner for its estate agency and new home developer partners. The combination brings together two of the UK’s leading residential property market insights and analytics providers, creating the most valuable property resource in the UK.”

Following completion of the acquisition, Hometrack will continue to operate as a standalone brand and platform with the team forming the cornerstone of ZPG’s data services business, which will be headed up by Charlie Bryant, chief executive of Hometrack.

“The deal gives us unrivalled capabilities to serve our estate agent and developer partners even more effectively with market-leading valuation tools and data intelligence to help them win more business” says Alex Chesterman, founder and chief executive of ZPG.

“We have had a long-standing relationship with ZPG and share the same vision of using data to help our partners operate more effectively. My team and I are very much looking forward to helping develop ZPG’s data services business, further growing the quality and breadth of the services to our partners and cementing ZPG as the market leader for residential property market insights and analytics” says Hometrack CEO Charlie Bryant.