London estate agency sees "huge" 452% increase in registered buyers as lockdown eases

A London estate agency has reported that it saw a “huge increase” in registered buyers last month as lockdown restrictions began to be lifted.

Yopa announced today that it experienced a 452 per cent increase in buyer registrations between April and May this year, as government restrictions for estate agents were eased.

The company said that it has “weathered” the lockdown due to technological advancements, flexible working and its fee structure.

It added that following lockdown, it saw a sales rate of 87 per cent, and that June has been its “strongest start to a month ever”.

Grenville Turner, Yopa’s chairman, commented: “We took steps in late February into early March to ensure we were prepared should the country go into lockdown and the market conditions deteriorate.

“To have shifted our operations so swiftly is a genuine credit to the team, and Yopa’s model allowed for this all-important resilience.

“Without high street offices to worry about, we were able to quickly ensure that all our agents were set up to offer full support to customers when they needed us most.

“We developed a programme of advice for agents and customers - existing and prospective - to help keep home sales moving whilst ensuring we played our part in keeping the UK as safe as possible.

“Recognising that, as franchisees, our local Yopa agents income would be severely impacted by the market shrinkage and the uncertainty around government support for the self-employed, we took the decision to support our business partners financially beyond the realms of their licence agreements.

“Visits to the portals were at an all-time-high during the lockdown period. These early decisions by Yopa meant that our vendors’ properties were seen online by millions of hungry buyers, and we were able to book in 323 virtual viewing appointments at the height of lockdown.

“We’re delighted to see that the decisions we took before lockdown have turned into real results for our customers with a sales rate of 87 per cent.

“It’s already clear that the market is returning to more normal levels, with Yopa reporting a whopping month-on-month increase of 452 per cent in registered buyers in May - a great time for vendors to list given buyers have been thwarted by Brexit, an election and now a pandemic.

“This buyer appetite has helped to drive the seismic shift in instructions month on month, with our strongest start to a month ever in June.

“All of this effort, agility and adaptability meant we jumped to the number two spot across the industry for share of listings in May and, whilst we of course acknowledge that the category was severely contracted at that time with many agencies furloughed or unable to operate, we believe we are in a great position to build on this success now that restrictions are easing across the UK.”