Agents

A trendy three-bedroom terraced house in London’s Stoke Newington was the most popular property for sale on Zoopla last month. Situated on Kersley Road, the property isn’t for the fainthearted as it requires substantial renovations, yet still has an eye-watering price tag of £1.2 million. The dated kitchen and bathrooms in the Victorian terraced…

HouseSimple has become a “no sale no fee” only estate agency, after scrapping its pay upfront option. Sellers will pay a fixed fee of £995 (including VAT), with no conveyancing tie-ins, on completion of a sale. The fee compares with the 1% to 2% commission typically charged by high street agents on sale of a property. HouseSimple previously offered…

US property portal Zillow has announced it will start buying and selling houses for the first time later this month, in an industry game-changing move that could see the portal become a direct competitor to real estate agents. The move marks a huge change in the portal’s business model, with Zillow’s CEO Spencer Rascoff stating on multiple…

James Scott-Lee, the founder of Chancellors and one of the most influential figures in the estate agency sector, died of a stroke after being run over by his horses and carriage, an inquest has been told. Scott-Lee, who had headed up Chancellors Group since the 1990s, was a very keen horse and carriage enthusiast. Aged 66, he had been on a…

Profits at estate agent Foxtons plunged by almost two thirds last year amid a slowdown in London’s housing market. While prices in the capital have remained high, the number of transactions has dropped following a surge in buying activity in previous years. Foxtons, which operates almost entirely in London, said waning consumer confidence against a…

The woes at Purplebricks are having a knock-on effect on star fund manager Neil Woodford, whose listed fund has been dragged towards the bottom of the FTSE 250 leader board. Shares in Purplebricks have slumped by 18% in the past week after questions were raised over its sales figures. Meanwhile, shares in the UK-focused Woodford Patient Capital…

Shares in online estate agent Purplebricks have continued to fall as pressure builds on the company to publish its sales figures. The stock has tumbled by 23% since Thursday – when broker Jefferies questioned its claim to have sold 88% of homes listed on its site within 10 months. Jefferies said the rate was closer to 51%. Purplebricks charges a…

The first sign of Middle Eastern interest in London property was immediately after the Gulf War and in 1976 when oil rich countries became the worlds new oligarchs with an incredible amount of new-found 'soft power’. Middle eastern buyers always had an affinity to the UK and came with their saddle bags full of cash, wanting to fill their boots with…

The future for online estate agents like Purplebricks is looking rosy, spelling bad news for property listings site Rightmove. That’s according to investment bankers at JPMorgan Cazenove, which reduced its rating for Rightmove to “underweight” from “neutral” and cut its target price for the stock. In contrast, the bank gave Purplebricks an…