Property web portal Funda Ireland, which last year acquired the Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute’s (IAVI) www.realestate.ie website for an initial €1m, said it is to cease operations.

Under the original agreement the IAVI stood to earn a further €5m over a 10-year period based on the performance of the joint venture with Dutch property player, Funda.

Funda Ireland and the Funda.ie website only began operating in Ireland in January of this year.

The company says the decision to wind down Funda Ireland was take following a major review of business strategy in the last two months. Its Dutch parent company decided that it could not build a strong enough position in the market to make the business viable. It had aimed to become one of the top three online property websites, competing with sites such as Daft.ie and MyHome.ie.

There will be a loss of six jobs, but two of the Irish firm’s six staff have been offered positions in the Netherlands.

Funda acquired the property search website Realestate.ie in May last year before re-launching it under its own brand.

Posted: 07|5|07 at 9:51 am. Filed under: Auction News.