Buying agent and property pundit Henry Pryor has predicted “significant” redundancies and branch closures in the London market. He said many agents are “on their knees”.
Yesterday, Pryor tweeted: “We’re going to see some significant redundancies and some well known brands closing down in London at this rate.”
Pryor told EYE: “Many agents I speak to are on their knees.
“There is a market but it’s not big enough to support the number of mouths that need to be fed. It’s pretty bleak for many.”
Comments (8)
For too long the London market has risen on the back of imported buyers. It’s about time it learned to stand on it’s own two feet.
The best agents will prosper.
Know your clients boys and girls? You will soon find out if you do.
Tend to agree with this view. The economy is cyclical, Brexit or no Brexit. I remember 1989 to 1995 which saw prices half in many cases.. Oh and by the way, we were in the EU then!
A large correction in the London market is long overdue after being staved off by low interest and quantitative easing over the last 10 years.
Never has it been more important to be in constant communication with your clients then now. Less will become more in the long run. Those that aren’t proactive with their pricing will either not sell or have to reduce further down the line. IMO, the Agent that manage to get their client on the same wavelength will be fine.
(Said in a whisper)…. I think the ‘take your money and run Agents’ will suffer the most. Who is stupid enough to pay in advance in a falling market??
It’s definitely the time when the really good agents will shine.
Where deals are becoming more challenging (believe me – we share the agents’ pain here!) it becomes so important to focus on progression.
The choice of buyer and sellers’ lawyer becomes SO much more important and we’re really encouraged to see increasing numbers of agents getting more involved in advising clients about which lawyers to use.
Sadly, for some agents we have seen rather less understanding of the dynamics of a deal and are being swayed by the “additional revenue stream” myth peddled by the lawyer panel managers. Using panel lawyers only generates referral fees if the deals go through and any agent with experience knows that panelled work is hit-and-miss to put it politely.
It’d be interesting to share some numbers on completion rates by panel mandated lawyers as opposed to recommended lawyers that are actually recommended for their efficiency.
Legal is still icing on cake for agents who need house sales to keep the gravy train going for all the industries who trade on our hard work and rent costs.
I’ve come across a few incidences recently of basic due diligence not being carried out by agents (proper chain checks, financial qualification, timescales etc). I questioned one agent over the vagueness and he said “I know, but we need the sales and there aren’t enough buyers around to ask too many questions”. Frightening times!
Is that really true? Not that demand is tailing off, but that some aren’t doing a proper job because they’re afraid to?Wow.
Maybe it’s a cunning plan.. the bankers want to leave but our dopey gov’t won’t let them sell their houses so they have to stay in London. . #brexit
p.s I think your login system and post button need linking up to a page on submit. They don’t work to smoothly. #proptech
Maybe it’s a cunning plan.. the bankers want to leave but our dopey gov’t won’t let them sell their houses so they have to stay in London. . #brexit