1. Company Overview. Rightmove is the UK’s largest online real estate portal and property search engine. Based in London, England, Rightmove was launched in 2000 as a joint venture between four major property firms: Countrywide, Connells, Halifax, and Royal & Sun Alliance.

2. Listed. It is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. As of 2023, it is a consistently a top-performing stock.

3. Reach and Audience. The website receives around 94 million visitors monthly, and includes a foreign property section. Rightmove say they get a half million visitors a month for the overseas property section of their website and that is spread between Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Greece and another 85 countries throughout the world.
The greatest number of searches for real estate in Spain seem to be in the South and the popular coastal areas of Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca.
The average search price is just above market average.

The majority of Rightmove’s users are within the 35–64 age range and are young professionals, families, and retirees. A significant portion of this demographic are seeking homes for relocation or investment purposes, including second homes abroad. The most important requirements are usually locations well-connected with flights to the UK, good infrastructure, healthcare, and English-speaking communities like the Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol, and the Balearic Islands. The demographic of younger buyers (35–50) is becoming increasingly important. They are typically looking for investment properties, holiday homes, or homes to rent out through platforms like Airbnb. Many are also exploring digital nomad lifestyles, working remotely from sunnier locations.

Due to Rightmove’s majority UK based audience, it lacks the multilingual focus and broader European reach that other Spanish and International portals can offer real estate agencies in Spain. Rightmove’s Spanish competition is usually more attuned to the Spanish-speaking and European markets, offering a more comprehensive listing of local properties that visitors can browse in their own language. In addition, their website filters are also more in tune with the features, amenities and property insights; something that Rightmove struggles to provide.
In short, Rightmove need to improve by giving both locals and foreign buyers better access to the full spectrum of local properties, detailed market data, and a user-friendly experience for international audiences.

4. Competitors. Rightmove’s main competitors in Spain are Zoopla, thinkSpain, Kyero, Idealista, and various International real estate search engines including Properstar, LuxuryEstate, and Greenacres.

5. Pricing. Rightmove offers a monthly subscription model for estate agents in Spain. These packages generally start from around €300 per month, while featured listings are roughly an additional €350 per month for 10 listings.

It is our experience that Rightmove do not generate enough traffic to the Spanish section of their website. If Spain receives 20% of the traffic that they say the foreign section receives then that would be 20% of 500,000 which is 100,000 visits per month. A quick calculation to confirm this: Rightmove has 260,000 overseas properties listed, and 58,000 of these properties are located in Spain. 58/260 = 22% so my rough estimate of (20%) 100,000 visits per month is in the ballpark. This traffic represents roughly only 10% of the traffic that Kyero receives, and 0.2% of the traffic that Idealista receives in a month.

An additional concern is the featured listings. Because Rightmove are usually not able to generate enough leads for a real estate agency’s specific area, for example: an agency with properties in Denia (Alicante Province, Valencia Region), Rightmove will list a featured property for Denia in the entire Valencia region section. Now it may sound nice to reach a wider audience, however the quality of lead is usually poor. These ‘leads’ will usually require a lot more time from your agents in the form of area education. They will most likely be looking at several areas, and working with as many agencies. The best leads come from buyers that are micro-focussed, for example: potential buyers that perform neighbourhood searches on a property portal. These are clients that know exactly what they want, and require little to no education about an area, and less of your agents’ time.

Here at ImmoEdge we have been working with the major real estate property portals in Spain for more than 15 years. We understand how to get the maximum return from each portal, and how to reduce your expenses. We know which paid strategies work, and we know how to improve your lead generation. Get in touch here, or have a look at our real estate digital marketing services in Spain here.

High-visibility to UK market. For Spanish estate agents marketing properties to UK buyers, Rightmove provides access to a market that is more diverse than what Spanish based English focussed portals can provide. Agents report that premium and featured listings, can increase inquiries from UK-based buyers, particularly for Spanish properties in coastal regions like Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol, and the Balearic Islands.

High Cost of Advertising. One of the biggest complaints, particularly among smaller agencies, is the high cost of listing properties on Rightmove. IN addition, premium or featured listings are expensive and often don’t provide results.

Below Average Lead Quality. Some agents feel that despite paying extra for better exposure, the leads generated aren’t always of high quality. They receive many speculative inquiries from uncommitted buyers. For Spanish agents who market on multiple real estate portals platforms (Rightmove, Idealista, ListGlobally, Kyero, etc.), the return on investment can feel lacking when compared with other portals.

Limited International Focus. Although Rightmove is popular among UK buyers, it does not cater well to other countries. Spanish agents trying to attract a broader European or global audience find that Rightmove falls short when compared with International platforms which cater to a wider multilingual, international audience.

Market Oversaturation. Many agents feel that there is an oversaturation of listings for their area, which makes it difficult for individual properties to stand out unless they invest in costly premium listings. This is especially true for highly competitive areas like the Spanish coastal regions, where multiple agents are targeting the same UK buyer base.