Zoopla returns to profit and bets on AI-driven tools for estate agents

Our take

This is a UK story, but it carries a clear signal for South African property professionals worth paying attention to. Zoopla's return to profit is built not on more listings or more traffic, but on deeper homeowner data and intent-based lead generation — a model that SA portals and agents should be watching closely. For local estate agents and principals, the 43% prospect-to-listing conversion rate from Zoopla's Prospect Plus product is the headline number. It suggests that portals which cultivate long-term homeowner relationships — tracking valuations, equity, and market interest well before a sale decision — can deliver meaningfully better-quality leads than traditional search-and-browse models. South African agents currently rely heavily on portals for exposure, but lead quality remains a persistent frustration. As AI-powered search tools become more capable, the portals sitting on rich, proprietary homeowner data will have a structural advantage over those aggregating listings alone. For SA property technology businesses and portals, the Zoopla model is a useful benchmark: invest in the data layer first, then layer AI on top. Surface-level AI features without quality underlying data — as Zoopla itself cautions — deliver little real value. Landlords and sellers should also note: the portals that know your property's history and your intent will increasingly shape how buyers find you.