Zoopla prices at lower end of range valuing website at £919m

The valuation is below the initial anticipated forecast of £1 billion

Zoopla has set the price of its initial public offer in the lower half of the range, valuing the property website at £919 million.

Shares in the website, which is majority owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust, began trading at 220p, in the lower half of the expected range between 200p and 250p with 38.3 per cent of its share capital on offer.

No new shares are being issued and the offer is only be open to financial institutions, such as banks and pension funds, alongside estate agents and developers.

Founder and chief executive Alex Chesterman said: "We are delighted with our successful listing. We have received a significant level of institutional investor support in our business which once again underlines the growth potential of Zoopla Property Group."

The valuation is below the initial anticipated forecast of £1 billion.

Traffic on Zoopla's website and mobile apps is up 37 per cent in the eight months to May against a year earlier as the UK property market booms. More than half of its traffic is now on mobile.

Daily Mail and General Trust holds almost 53 per cent of Zoopla and is set to land a windfall worth as much as £500m. DMGT invested only around £80m in Zoopla, the second biggest player in online property advertising in Britain behind Rightmove.

The IPO market has been at its busiest since 2007, with shares in Royal Mail and Foxtons rocketing on their debuts last autumn, but some investors are fretting it may have peaked.