2008-11-26 17:47:10 - ReportBuyer.com, the online destination for business intelligence for major industry sectors, has added a new report which predicts that both the number of transactions and estate agency revenue will decline in 2008 and 2009.

The publication, 'Estate Agents- Market Report 2008' which is available at www.reportbuyer.com/go/KEY00021 also finds that the market is not expected to recover until at least 2010.

The report says some closures would seem inevitable. It finds that closures have already taken place across the industry and, by the end of 2008, it is likely that there will be 2,000 fewer estate

agency branches than there were at the beginning of the year, with more likely to close in 2009.

Analysts say given the growing power of the Internet, when the estate agency industry does recover, it will not resemble the industry of today. It is expected that a period of restructuring will result in a smaller market and more people will be selling property without using an estate agent.

Authors of the report say that the housing market has been on a roll for 13 years, so a sizeable proportion of estate agency staff have not worked in conditions as difficult as those they are now facing. As a result, they lack the experience required to survive in such a market, and some of the younger estate agents might well withdraw from the market. Indeed, there are already suggestions that the market as we know it today will not exist in 10 years time, given the currently dire state of the property market and the opportunities for developments on the Internet.

The publication finds that Countrywide remains the largest estate agency, followed by Connells Residential, LSL Property Services and Halifax Estate Agency. The industry continues to restructure as Strutt & Parker have merged with Lane Fox and Foxtons has been sold to a private equity firm.

This report examines the UK market for estate agents, focusing on the residential property agencies. It excludes property services such as auctioneers, valuers, estate managers, property companies and property consultants.

'Estate Agents- Market Report 2008' is available from ReportBuyer.com.

For more information, see:
www.reportbuyer.com/business_services/real_estate_agents/estate_ ..

ReportBuyer.com product ID: KEY00021

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