Zoopla released new figures over the previous week from their 2018 research. They suggested that more people than previously thought use online agents to originally list their property. Not surprising considering they offer, on average, a cheaper service. However, not all is as it seems on the surface with these statistics.

Zoopla collected 6000 people and discussed how they sold their property. Surprisingly, their research showed that 20% of all property sales were originally listed with an online agent.

Although on face value these figures suggest big bright things for the online agent, there are a few more statistics you should take into consideration before jumping into a new online market. These are taken from initial listing statistics, not sold statistics.

Zoopla’s own 2018 Sold statistics state that 84% of all properties where sold via a traditional high street estate agent.

This means that at LEAST 4% of all online sales didn’t work out and they ended up listing twice; once online and once with high street agents. Apart from the extra time taken to make your sale, many online agents charge an upfront figure for the listing which means it can be costly too. Remember, these facts don’t consider how many people sold privately or through a sole agent too, so these statistics could potentially be far more insightful to the success rates of online agents too

The introduction of a few major rules and regulations coming through which could cause online agents’ issues too. The implementation of the mandatory ARLA qualification for any agent in the UK will force unqualified agents to gain a qualification in order to sell or let property. This could be a larger issue for call centre style online agents and for extreme budget online agents as you must ask the question ‘how it is cost effective’.

In short there is no doubt the market for the online agent is still booming, allowing for an easier sale. However, the market still shows a large preference to the local agent and their ability to market with local knowledge. Perhaps its time for the local agent to differentiate from the market and add value to the customer using alternative advertising and social media.