Ghost town.... Anecdotal

Tygermoth

Hi all,

I live in Basingstoke (recently moved here for the other half's job) and I have noticed something odd... Three weeks ago a well established estate agent advertising for new staff was there on my way to work and gone on the way home... A few days later its neighbour estate agent suddenly vanished too. Then one by the top of town goes... and today another by the Halifax has up and cleared off it was open at lunch but gone on my way home.

Now my question is although I haven't seen that much of a change in the house prices round here why is it hitting the estate agents so hard and fast that they are vanishing overnight? are their overheads that high? or are they battening down and cutting the fat before the fan and the !!!!!! meet? just seems very fast that's all....

LillyJ

Are you sure they weren't just closed for the night

m00m00

estate agents operate on volume of sales, not on high house prices

if sellers aren't dropping their prices, and buyers aren't interested, estate agents will wither and die.

Tygermoth

But they have made huge profits recently, so why cant they weather this... especially so early and for such a small drop? (round here anyway)

Sorry, it may seem a bizarre question.. I'm just surprised the business is not that robust.

Err, lol id think i would notice if they were just closed up for the night...maybe...

m00m00

yes, but they've blown all their huge profits on audis
and well, being blown ....

Tygermoth

heh heh heh ..........

ryandj

The advertised prices may not have dropped much, but the prices people are willing to pay, and the demand, has dropped so the EA's are not getting their commissions.

People will not want to advertise their house which was last year worth £200K at £150K or whatever, but buyers are struggling to get mortgages so no houses are selling!

epz_2

ryandj wrote: »

The advertised prices may not have dropped much, but the prices people are willing to pay, and the demand, has dropped so the EA's are not getting their commissions.

People will not want to advertise their house which was last year worth £200K at £150K or whatever, but buyers are struggling to get mortgages so no houses are selling!

agreed, last i heard lending was down 17% so while house prices are only starting to slide the EA's will have lost 17% turnover in a business where their costs are pretty fixed but their earnings are based on a % of turnover.

and lets not forget the market has got a LOT worse in the last 2 months, all the 100% mortgages being pulled and bad headlines will likely have killed any residual demand .

BiggaThanBen

m00m00 wrote: »

if sellers aren't dropping their prices, and buyers aren't interested, estate agents will wither and die.

.. only those specialising in Sales

BobProperty

As EAs rely on turnover of properties more than price, the last time prices fell (early - mid 90s) EAs fees went up. I'm sure I can remember stories of fees which used to be 1-1.5% going up to 2-2.5% or more.

useless

Tygermoth wrote: »

Hi all,

I live in Basingstoke (recently moved here for the other half's job) and I have noticed something odd... Three weeks ago a well established estate agent advertising for new staff was there on my way to work and gone on the way home... A few days later its neighbour estate agent suddenly vanished too. Then one by the top of town goes... and today another by the Halifax has up and cleared off it was open at lunch but gone on my way home.

Now my question is although I haven't seen that much of a change in the house prices round here why is it hitting the estate agents so hard and fast that they are vanishing overnight? are their overheads that high? or are they battening down and cutting the fat before the fan and the !!!!!! meet? just seems very fast that's all....

Some asking prices are dropping in Basingstoke. Compared to asking price last summer/early autumn:
195,000 down to 177,000
267,000 down to 249,000
199,999 down to 189,999
with two of these in good areas

Basingstoke has done well in the past few years, due to its fast route to London and re-vamped town centre.
Nonetheless, the new town centre flats have even fallen in a rising market - found this :http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=21392