OnTheMarket share price slides again - but that might mean nothing

The share price of OnTheMarket slipped again on Friday - down around five per cent on the day and ending at 125p, meaning it’s lost around a quarter of its share value since launching at 165p on February 9.

However, although the performance can hardly be regarded as stellar, in reality it gives very little indication of the long-term fate of the portal on the stock market.

Purplebricks launched in December 2015 at 100p and before the end of January 2016 it had plummeted to 74p - having lost over a quarter of its value in its first few weeks. 

Yet on Friday Purplebricks closed around 311p, well over three times its original share value, despite having in the past reaching over 500p ahead of its rollercoaster of publicity over compliance and sales performance.

Back in September 2013 Foxtons made a stunning stock market debut; its original price of 230p was considered overly-optimistic by many at the time, yet it rose a further 20 per cent within hours of its launch. 

But by late February 2014, a few months after launch, Foxtons nudged 400p a share - yet today it struggles at around 80p after languishing at a similar level for the past year.

In early 2006 Rightmove launched to the stock market at 335p - by July that year it was down to 280p, yet today is around a remarkable 4,250p. Likewise ZPG launched in mid-2014 at 220p and quickly rose five per cent; however, by January 2015 it had slumped to 155p yet today its price opens at over 330p.

Countrywide, defying the trend, almost doubled in value in its first year on the stock market, hitting over 680p in March 2015 having launched 12 months before at 350p. Yet the group’s declining fortunes since that time have been well-documented.

Day to day fluctuations in share prices can be newsworthy but rarely give reliable indications of how property stocks perform in the long term.