The market share of online and hybrid agents has continued to decrease this year but self-employed agency is growing.
Data from Twenty EA shows exchanges among the hybrid sector dropped to 5.2% in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024 from 6.5% this time last year.
It comes after this cohort’s market share hit a high of 8.2% of exchanges in 2019.
However, self-employed agents have continued to gain momentum and accounted for 34% of new instructions in the first quarter across all hybrid agents - up from 25% in the same period last year.
In total, hybrid agents launched 5% of all new instructions in Q1 24 compared with 5.9% in Q1 23 – a drop of 15% but this hides the gains made by self-employed agents.
They launched 1.7% of all new instructions in Q1 24 – up from 1.4% in Q1 23 – a rise of 18%.
The findings are part of the latest Property and Homemover Report which shows that as a category, online and hybrid agents’ penetration across all property values has continued to fall. This is particularly evident at the higher end of the market but even among properties of £200,000 or less, market share for exchanged properties is still down by 10%.
Katy Billany, executive director of TwentyEA, said: “Self-employed agents continued to gain momentum year-on-year despite hybrid agents continuing to lose market share overall. This downward trend has hidden the growth of self-employed agents - a sub-group of hybrid agents – who are demonstrating rapid growth within their sector.
“Currently we do not see hybrid agents posing a significant challenge to traditional high-street agents but that could change if the self-employed model continues to grow in popularity.
“With increasing change within the market, it’s important agents are continually working to build a competitive edge. One of the most effective ways to do this is by having the latest expert data-based insights at hand. Agents must monitor key performance metrics and use them to make informed strategic decisions.”
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I'm not convinced that the definitions and categories are clear. It was Voltaire who said, “If you wish to converse with me, define your terms.”
Online seems self-explanatory. This is an estate agency that operates exclusively online without any physical highstreet presence.
Hybrid is slightly confusing. My interpretation is that it's both online and has a physical presence. This sounds like every single traditional estate agent operating today. They have an office and a website or indeed, have an office and use a property portal.
The self-employed module feels even murkier being a mangled mixture of traditional, online and hybrid estate agencies. I think you have to separate how each business operates as the self-employed definition seems a bit loose.
For example, my local estate agent is self-employed with a physical office and an online presence. Ridiculously, he can appear in all of these categories!
Aren't all agents online?
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