Agents taking over London high streets

The online estate agent industry may be growing at a rapid pace but that does not mean that it is time to sound the death knell for traditional high street agents, especially in London where more than 200 new estate agency branches have opened on high streets over the past year, a new study has revealed. Despite a drop in the number of homes for sale in the capital, there was an 8.3 per cent rise in the volume of new high street branches across the city taking the total to 2,881, up from 2,661 compared to the previous year. The data compiled by Rightmove also revealed that there are now more than two branches for each of London’s 1,200 town centres, with all but one – Enfield – seeing an increase in the volume of estate agencies last year. The greatest hike in the number of high street branches was witnessed in Westminster, where the total rose by 27 per cent to 228. Islington was second with a 26 per cent increase, followed by a 16 per cent hike in Hammersmith and Fulham. Perhaps it is no coincidence that property prices in these London boroughs are among the most…

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