Agencies & People
News covering the businesses, activities, people and personalities in estate agency and letting agency and wider residential property industry.
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Third Oz city launch today for bullish Purplebricks
Purplebricks has today launched into a third Australian property market and says its business there is expanding faster than its initial launch in the UK in April 2014. Its new Sydney and central coast operation has just gone live with 20 local ‘property experts’ and an AU$5,500 fixed fee which, the company claims, saves sellers AU$15,000 off the cost of using one of the country’s traditional agents. Australia’s property market is a softer target than the UK’s. Agents there typically charge a 2.2% fee plus marketing costs of several thousand dollars,. Purplebricks initialy launched last year into Melbourne and Brisbane, followed by today’s Sydney announcement and later this year, Perth and Adelaide. The company is making much of its success in the UK to promote the Oz operation. Co-founder Michael Bruce (pictured) last week told local paper The Financial Review that the company was “playing a major role in changing the way real estate is sold in the UK and would do the same in Australia”. He also told various media outlets in Sydney recently that the UK’s traditional agents were ‘struggling’ compared to Purplebricks, picking out Countrywide and Foxtons as examples and claiming to be the UK’s largest estate…
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Countrywide results lift stockmarket price
It may be Friday 13th but Countrywide’s Chief Executive, Alison Platt, is probably feeling a little happier as their share price rose this morning following the group’s reported its income for the 12 months to the end of December. Listed as £737 million, it beat their 2015 figure of £734 million and the analysts’ expectations of £702 million. The figure was achieved despite falling volumes in house sales, through their agency offices, particularly in London. Countrywide (CWD.L) said that the volume of sales in London in the final quarter continued to be below 2015’s levels, resulting in a drop of about 6 per cent in the number of deals for the year. However, its lettings business saved the day, supporting sales revenue with strong activity across the country. Countrywide had issued two profit warnings for 2016, saying that it expected full-year market volumes to be 6 per cent lower for the full year. The group said volumes were likely to fall further in 2017. Countrywide is ‘encouraged’ Commenting on the Group’s performance, Alison Platt, CEO said, “It is pleasing to report modest full year revenue growth against the backdrop of a challenging residential sales market. Our Retail and London divisions were impacted by the…
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Foxtons reports profits down by 45% year-on-year
Foxtons has reported a dismal performance during 2016 including total group revenue down by 11% from £150m in 2015 to £133m, and profits for the year likely to be down by 45% year-on-year. Foxtons’ CEO Nic Budden (pictured) also warns that 2017 is likely to be equally painful for the company, saying that “should current levels of sales activity continue in the short term, it is likely that 2017 volumes will be below those in 2016”. The company’s trading statement released today blames the dramatic decreases in turnover and profits on significant drops in sales volumes as the market continues to be “subdued”. Its lettings revenues remained constant during the final three months of the year at £13m compared to the same period the year before, which Foxtons says it down to its “high levels of renewals despite lower levels of new tenant activity and some downward pressure on rents arising from increased stock”. “Despite a challenging year across the residential property markets, we have continued to make good progress in respect of our strategic initiatives, including building our presence in PRS and new homes, and leveraging our technology using data analytics and digital marketing to enhance our customer proposition,”…
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Symonds & Sampson sale
Symonds & Sampson latest auction offerings ensured a packed sale room...
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Campbells seeks ‘extraordinary agents’
Campbells has launched a campaign to teach more people to become extraordinary estate agents across the Midlands.
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43% of auction sales now going to home buyers, claims IamSold
Online auction house IamSold says half of purchasers using its platform are home buyers rather than investors, and that more agents are using auctions in their instruction pitches as online-only, hybrid and proptech companies continue to disrupt their traditional agency models. Data from IamSold reveals that it has seen a 55% uplift in value of homes sold through its auctions while the number of homes sold has increased by a third. This is evidence, the company claims, that both more agents are using auctions and that more upmarket properties are also going under the gavel. “As agents continue to build auctions into their marketing package, we are also starting to see a major shift in public perception,” says Jamie Cooke, MD of IamSold.co.uk (pictured). “Our stats from last year show a significant proportion of consumers turning to auction to buy property for their own use with almost a direct split between cash and mortgaged purchases – 43% of buyers bought for owner occupation while 47% purchased for buy-to-let purposes, and 10% bought to re-sell. “This is very different to a few years ago, when auctions were almost solely the preserve of cash buyers; typically larger investors and portfolio landlords.” These bullish figures…
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Durham letting agent receives MBE in New Year’s Honours List
Richard H Tucker, the managing director of County Durham student lettings and property management firm AAA Property (North East) has been made an MBE in the New Year’s Honours List. His MBE was awarded for services to business, skills and the community in the North East. Richard founded AAA Property Services in 2007 following a career in the Royal Air Force as well as spells working for a supermarket chain and a distribution company. AAA Property, which is based in Newton Aycliffe near Darlington, is unusual because it operates a Caring Caretaker scheme that offers former service personnel work and training within its property management arm. It looks after a wide variety of different properties including buy-to-lets owned by private landlords as well as commercial, healthcare and educational properties within the North East region. “As we have grown, we have found getting good quality handyman has been quite hard,” he recently told the Northern Echo newspaper. “That’s where Caring Caretaker comes in, and we have people here who want to work and want a job. “They are good customer-facing people and what a lot of them don’t want is the repetition some jobs can bring. “They don’t want to be…
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Boxing charity event Rumble with the Agents launches
Rumble with the Agents, the white-collar charity boxing event hosted for the last two years by Landlord Action, in association with Hamilton Fraser, is returning for a third year. The event will be held on Thursday 25th May 2017, and the team is requesting the support of men and women from all sides of the property industry looking for a New Year challenge. The event will once again raise funds for Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice, North London’s only ‘Hospice at Home’ service, providing support for children and young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions and their families. The charity also provides respite and support to families, helping them to face the future with hope after bereavement. Paul Shamplina, founder of Landlord Acton, said, “We’re offering individuals the chance to get fit and try a new sport in a safe and professional environment, whilst supporting the wonderful work of Noah’s Ark, who are hoping to build a new state of the art hospice by 2018.” Rumble with the Agents has some keen participants already signed up, but the event requires a total of 12 boxers, so remaining places are on a first come first served basis. There will be six fights lasting six…
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All time low? Liverpool flat to start bidding at £1
SDL Graham Penny, the new name for the successful auctioneer in Leicester, has a ground floor flat set to go under the hammer at its next auction with a guide price of only £1!
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Jones Robinson Group merges with Martin Walker
Newbury based estate agency the Jones Robinson Group has merged with Devizes based estate agency Martin Walker.
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