BREAKING NEWS – top 5 stories 15/07/2021
Daily bite-sized proptech and real estate news in partnership with Proptech-X. Today, Stanton looks at ONS, Purplebricks, Hunters and more.
- Completed sales peaks in the final week of SDLT holiday
- Office for National Statistics says property value rose 10% in last year
- Savills employee arrested over alleged racist tweet
- Purplebricks share price sinks below first listing value
- Property Franchise Group scale up its Hunters franchise operation
Completed sales peaks in the final week of SDLT holiday
According to findings from the “homemover data agency” TwentyCi, completions were up by 400% in the last seven days before the Chancellor’s SDLT holiday ended at midnight on 30th June.
Typically, completion levels run at 19,000 per week. The data revealed by TwentyCi showed the figure to be a staggering 78,022.
The agency also reported that on the very last day alone there were over 36,000 completions, with around 124,000 sales still in the pipeline, that had just missed the deadline.
Office for National Statistics says property value rose 10% in last year
Though there are many indexes for what housing is doing, regarding growth or decline in price, the ONS has just published results articulating that, on average, property values have risen by 10% in the last year.
This has ramifications for all stakeholders. For example, first-time buyers will need 10% more saved up as a deposit to buy the same property, which could typically be another £12,000.
Investors in the PRS sector, feeling that the initial buy-in is too expensive, may feel squeezed out of the initial marketplace, which in turn squeezes the availability of rental inventory, thus causing rental price inflation to compound on the most vulnerable sector in the property ecosystem.
Savills employee arrested over alleged racist tweet
It has been reported that Andrew Bone, a commercial building manager for Savills in Manchester, has been formally arrested by Greater Manchester Police, regarding a racist Tweet sent following the England Italy final.
Detective Inspector Matt Gregory said: “The actions of a small number of people overshadowed what was a hugely unifying event for our country on Sunday evening…We are firm in our commitment, any racist abuse whether online or off is not acceptable.”
Savills has suspended the employee until the matter is fully investigated.
Purplebricks share price sinks below first listing value
When Purplebricks listed on the Alternative Investment Market in December 2015, its opening share value was 95.5p. It then hit a high of 498.5p in July 2017. Today, however, it trades at only 74.1p and its market share is slipping. Is this significant?
Well, after the online agent’s costly failures, incurred when it tried to scale globally, it now seems to be resigned to hunkering down and flipping its cash upfront.
It has moved from a sale or no sale deal to a more risk inclusive offering, where if the property fails to get a buyer or gain an offer at 10% less than the asking price, a refund will be made to the vendor.
Maybe the shareholders are not so happy with this pivot.
Property Franchise Group scale up its Hunters franchise operation
Hunters, which has recently been acquired by the PFG, has around two hundred branches. It is now looking to grow the business with even more franchisees flocking to the brand. To facilitate this, and help keep consistency within the existing network, four new industry hires have been announced.
Is Agency reaching a franchise model watershed?
If you have a view – please let us all know by emailing me at editor@stagingsite.estateagentnetworking.co.uk – Andrew Stanton Executive Editor – moving property and proptech forward.
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