I once predicted that online estate agency would be the future. That a new model in property selling would usurp all others and grab huge market share. In fact I put a number on it… up to 30% of all homes would soon be sold by way of this modern approach.
The democratisation of the property sector was afoot. I could feel it, taste it…
That was back in 2012 and much has happened since including the chariot in which I was going to ride to sector dominance, Emoov, losing its wheels and crashing into a ditch. A similar fate has befallen just about all of the other online estate agencies that were in that race a decade or so ago.
I’ll whisper this quietly – but I was wrong.
Well, sort of. Because here’s the thing…
The likes of Emoov, House Network, Hatched and then subsequently, PurpleBricks were pioneers, you see. Shunning offices in favour of field based teams, adding technology capability and promoting vendor facing marketing campaigns and spend, the likes of which the industry had never seen before.
Let’s fast forward to 2025 and take a look at some compelling industry data from TwentyEA that tells us which estate agency brands are actually the most successful by volume these days.
In first place right now is eXp, run by Adam Day, founder of Hatched, an original ‘OEA’. No offices. Smart agent led marketing and technology that has helped the US parent company list on the NASDAQ at a $2bn valuation. eXp are now about the same size as Reeds Rains and haart combined.
Also in the top 10 are YOPA, another onliner from back in 2012, and PurpleBricks (no introduction needed).
So, three of the UK’s ten biggest estate agencies are unconventional in their business models.
No offices. No company cars. ‘No shiny suits’ (this was one of my favourite disparaging, tongue-in-cheek observations of the traditional industry back in the day).
Wait. Aren’t these ‘unconventional’ agencies entirely reminiscent of the proposition that some of us pioneered more than 15 years ago and which was subsequently widely critiqued as a model that had failed?
Well eXp, Purplebricks and YOPA wrote a combined 4520 sales in May. That’s over 36% of all of the properties sold by the top 10 UK estate agency brands.
Seems I was right after all. Kind of.
I’m very much looking forward to the supportive comments below.
Russell Quirk is co-founder of ProperPR, the specialist property PR agency and a regular commentator and presenter in the media
Yopa continues on path toward profitable growth with jump in revenue
Read the orginal article: https://propertyindustryeye.com/opinion-so-i-was-right/
