Thursday, Aug 21, 2008
Predictions
Sky: Droves Of Estate Agents Go Bust
"Some 4,000 estate agents could be out of business by the end of the year, if industry estimates are correct". "According to figures from business monitor company Debtwire, the country's 12,000 businesses are closing down at a rate of 150 a month".
Posted by alan @ 09:53 AM (858 views) Add Comment
12 Comments
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1. jackas said...
Has anyone seen my minature violin?
2. Zippys said...
haha maybe they should be more pushy with the sellers to lower the prices and kick start the market?
supply and demand
3. wiltshire said...
Oh, it's nothing to worry about because as reported yesterday "Members of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) have reported that the current market is levelling out, with a stability noted in the number of sales agreed, number of viewings before a sale is secured, and the percentage of agreed sales that have fallen through".
24 hours is a long time in Estate Agenting!
4. renting2 said...
Once the numbers have been culled it would be a good time to get them properly regulated.
5. Eyes_wide_open said...
Excellent news.
6. Mr Plumbase said...
Every cloud has a silver lining!
7. jack c said...
EA's are obviously not very good business people are they - as I have stated on this site on several occasions they need to turn the stock on their books to generate fee/commission income otherwise they'd go bust - the last thing they needed was a stagnant market - what a bunch of idiots in not advising vendors to drop prices to more realistic levels in order to keep the housing stock turning over.
8. peter_2008 said...
So if this goes on for another 5 years, which CAN happen, the EAs will be extinct. That’s bad. Maybe we should start now to mummify them and preserve them in museums? And then we should organise school trips to teach children what happens if they live dishonestly.
9. handle_it said...
EA's don't regulate money supply. They are a symptom of the problem not the problem. If a bank will lend you 3.5 X your salary then that's how much a house will cost. If they'll lend you 6 or 7 times then again that's how much your new home will cost you. I'm certain that most EA's were smart enough to realise that the game was going to up real soon anyway...
10. Keth said...
I work for a 'big name' estage agency, who have quietly closed about a quarter of their branches yesterday. I'm in the 'eye of the storm'.. I'm not particularly offended by the comments but i think most of you are putting the blame in the wrong place. EA need to be regulated like banks, that much is true. The problem isn't Agents but Vendors... they refuse to lower the price.. it's a losing game... the second problem is viewers... there simply aren't any at all.... believe me agents would sell houses at half the price if they could just to keep afloat.
EAs sell houses for the best price, they are paid to do so. Mortgage Brokers give mortgages at the best rates/income multiples... Mortage Brokers are not skilled underwriters. What has happened over the last few years is that underwriting of mortgage has become computerised and based on a 'scoring' system which is kept secret to avoid 'fraud'/'manipulation'.
In fact, it's the role of 'computer model's' that's probably been the key failure here...and of course, human greed...
ultimately the government failed... banks on a macro-scale ARE duty bound to lend within risk caculations that are viable. The banks failed to take account of the effect of credit on credit worthyness... I believe that Credit Scoring Companies are building this into the models now though and have learned...banks will never learn so governments need to be strong with them.
We are about to learn a painful lesson, and whilst we'll never stop 'boom' and 'bust', hopefully we should never see this hyperboom again.
11. Ijjhall said...
@Keth
'The problem isn't Agents but Vendors... they refuse to lower the price.. it's a losing game... the second problem is viewers... there simply aren't any at all.... believe me agents would sell houses at half the price if they could just to keep afloat'.
Hear what you say but round here I walk past estate agents like Connells imploring people to buy now rather than wait for the market to recover under the banner header 'Yes it really is the best time to buy.' That doesn't correspond to the message you are trying to get out..
Isn't it possible to say to a greedy vendor who is not responsive to your arguments to take their business elsewhere ? Has taht been even attempted at your branch ? Personally I think a lot of EA are still in denial or think a big saving punch will arrive from somewhere like govt intervention...
12. enuii said...
Nice comment Keth, very eloquently summed up.