Estate agents are stepping up their presence in the lettings market as they seek to avoid closing branches as sales slow, according to one of Britain's largest property websites.
Rightmove, which advertises property online for 90pc of the country's estate agents, 75pc of lettings agents and half of all new home developments, said it has noticed the trend emerge as the UK's housing market cools.
Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, said: "Estate agents will do anything to avoid selling their painfully acquired prime spot in the centre of town. They shed jobs fairly quickly, and look to cut costs in other ways."
Changing their advertising spend is one such way. Although Rightmove admits the overall size of the property advertising market is shrinking, it expects online advertising to pick up the slack after 2007 saw a "pivotal" move away from traditional newspaper advertising.
That trend helped Rightmove more than triple pre-tax profits to £27.1m last year, as revenues jumped to £56.7m from £33m. The group added that it has enjoyed a "positive" start to 2008, with modest subscriber gains, following on from the full year where it retained 92pc of its customers.
The group attracted 18pc more advertisers last year, and now claims that one person in every four buys a property they first saw on Rightmove. |
