Member Article

London property slowdown sees high street estate agents dwindle

The cooling of London’s property market this year following the EU referendum has caused a noticeable decline in the number of high street property agents operating in the capital.

According to research by online estate agents HouseSimple.com, four out of ten London boroughs experienced a fall in the number of estate agents operating, however the actual number London-wide marginally rose by 0.5% to near 2,900.

The biggest faller was the borough of Barnet which saw a drop of 7.2% with the number of estate agents dropping to 116 in the past 12 months.

Hammersmith and Fulham (down 5.3%), Greenwich (down 4.3%) and Richmond upon Thames (down 5.9%) also saw marked declines, as property values stagnated and the number of transactions decreased following June’s vote.

In boroughs where there was an increase, such as in Dagenham, Camden and Lambeth, the gains were often marginal and failed to match the number of new openings in 2015, as new operators piled in to capitalise on London’s booming property market.

Alex Gosling, Chief Executive Officer at HouseSimple.com comments: “Last year saw an explosion of high estate agent offices opening across London hoping to take advantage of a booming property market, and many would say, blighting our high streets.

“But after a strong start to 2016, the market has cooled, with stamp duty changes hitting super prime sales and the EU Referendum and US Election result putting some doubt in buyers’ minds.

“Established high street agents might be able to absorb a slowdown in sales, but for the opportunist agents who open to take advantage of a booming market, they quite often disappear from the high street as quickly as they arrive. And many local residents will probably say that’s not altogether a bad thing, because the dramatic rise in agent offices has already homogenized many local high streets.

“On the other hand, over the last twelve months we’ve seen a 54% surge in new listings as customers increasingly realise the savings they can make by selling online.”