Bad news for Purplebricks? New analysis favours traditional agencies

Traditional solicitor estate agents north of the border have a higher success rate than any other estate agency model.

The claim comes, perhaps unsurprisingly, from the Solicitors Property Centre in Scotland. 

The claim follows the recent revelation, contained in an analysis by City consultancy Jefferies, that Purplebricks sold less than 52 per cent of its listed properties in a 10 month period.

SPC Scotland says this spurred it to conduct its own analysis to see what percentage of marketed properties in Scotland actually sold in 2016 and 2017.

For ESPC (Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre), in 2016 it found that 94 per cent of properties were sold, and for 2017 84 per cent properties were sold. 

For Glasgow’s SPC, 87 per cent of were sold in 2016 and 72 per cent were sold in 2017. However for 2017, the percentage of properties not sold also included those that were still under offer. 

The SPC Scotland’s analysis on the subject does not reveal figures for other estate agency models north of the border. 

However, it says: “While other estate agent models offer a fixed fee for consumers which is often paid up front, in comparison to a percentage of the sold price, statistics show that they have a lower success rate in properties being sold.”

It goes on to say: “These stats also demonstrate that in Scotland it is rare for sales to fall through once the offer has been accepted. The Scottish system provides a lot more certainty than the approach in England and Wales.”

John O’Malley at Pacitti Jones, a GSPC member firm, says: “We believe that clients significantly benefit from selling though solicitor property centres. This provides a far stronger customer bond and helps us provide a superior service to our customers. We cover the whole process and our service does not end once a property is listed online, which is the case with some.”A strong regulator also gives clients peace of mind that they will get a professional service.”