Gone in 60 minutes: The 1st hour is crucial for listings says Zoopla

The latest data and analysis from Zoopla takes a look at the lifetime of a property listing and reveals how crucial the first hour is for property sellers or landlords.

According to the findings, the first hour is the busiest single hour for any listing (whether sales or lettings). Looking across the first week, the highest proportion of consumers express an interest amounting to a lead in the first 0-59 minutes. In the lifetime of a sales listing 11% of all leads come on the first day and, for a rental listing, this figure stands slightly higher at 12%. (See Table 1 below).

Within the first week, 34% of all sales leads are generated on day one. Following this surge the proportion of leads generated across days 2-7 slowly tapers off with 17% of sales leads generated on day two, 14% on day three and a steady reduction thereafter until day seven. For rental listings the pattern is the same but with a slightly lower proportion of leads on the first day (28%). (See Table 2 below).

With regards to rental listings, 41% of the total leads generated will fall within the first week of its life. For sales leads this is slightly lower at 34% in the first week. Across ALL listings 37% of leads are generated in the first week. (See Table 1 below).

Charlie Bryant, Managing Director at Zoopla, comments: “Our analysis proves that listings generate a significantly higher number of leads immediately after launching to market so there is very little time to ‘test’ a marketing approach, try out a higher price or wait for better images. From the very first second, agents must ensure that they are marketing the best information to the widest possible audience in order to generate quality leads. In the current market, sellers and landlords cannot afford to miss the boat.”