Rightmove said its underlying operating profit edged up 1% to £135.1m in the first six months of the year compared to a year ago, following “a challenging mortgage rate environment”.  

The property website says its customer traffic was “resilient,” with a total of 8.3 billion minutes spent on the platform, compared to 8.2 billion minutes 12 months ago.  

Membership numbers lifted 1% since the start of the year to 19,061, it said in a statement to the stock market.  

The business continues to develop its mortgage lead generation business with brokers, but did not break out performance data in this set of results.  

It said: “We continue to invest in product innovation for both our consumers and our partners, and are accelerating our strategic growth areas of commercial real estate, rental services and mortgage lead generation, all while maintaining disciplined cost management.”  

Rightmove chief executive Johan Svanstrom adds: “Our performance came against the backdrop of the sustained challenging mortgage rate environment.   

“The period saw a pick-up in existing-homes listings and transactions, a continued yet softening imbalance of demand and supply for rentals, and a tentative outlook for new homes development volumes.   

“With the election now concluded, the property market looks forward to potential interest rate reductions which will further stimulate activity.”  

The Bank of England’s base rate has remained at a 16-year high of 5.25% since last August.

The firm’s results come after rival property portal OnTheMarket agreed to a £99m cash takeover by larger US business CoStar Group in October, giving the American company a UK presence.    

Wealth Club quality shares portfolio manager at Charlie Huggins says: “These are solid but uninspiring results from Rightmove.   

“CoStar’s acquisition of OnTheMarket means Rightmove now faces a highly credible and deep-pocketed rival.   

“Innovation is becoming increasingly important and that comes at a cost.”