Happy New Year for 2017 to all of my Haydock Property News readers! Christmas and New Year is traditionally a quiet period for estate agents and it is often used by them to set their marketing strategy for the coming year.
It is therefore interesting to note that AHome4U have decided to close their office on West End Road in Haydock and consolidate their operations for sales and lettings into their head office in Prescot, some 7 miles away. This leaves one of my businesses - Porterhouse Properties as the only remaining estate agent in Haydock. So what does this mean to Haydock homeowners in 2017?
Since the property market crash, the number of properties being advertised for sale has halved. In January 2007 there were over 150 properties advertised for sale in Haydock. Today, ten years later there are just 75 which in turn is down 10% on the numbers advertised a year ago.
According to Rightmove, 154 properties were sold in Haydock during 2016 with 50 of those being sold by Porterhouse Properties. AHome4U were the joint second highest estate agents with 9 properties sold during 2016.
Whilst we are on the subject of Rightmove, an estate agent trading in the Haydock area is likely to be paying around £1,000 per month to use Rightmove's advertising portal, so it is hardly surprising that an agent selling just 9 properties in the Haydock area at discounted sales commission fees should consider closing their operation.
Online estate agencies have appeared over the last few years but only 8 properties from 5 different online agencies were sold in Haydock using this method during 2016.
AHome4U's demise may also be attributed to the fact that they have also been trying to occupy the same discounted sales fee sector as the online agencies.
The value of the high street estate agent should not be underestimated. Local knowledge and expertise matched with excellent customer service at reasonable fees will always achieve the best outcome for property sales - something that the team at Porterhouse Properties clearly know a thing or two about!
From the sales figures for 2016, Haydock homeowners still share this view!
