Rightmove but wrong time

PROPERTY website Rightmove yesterday warned that increasing numbers of estate agents were closing branches as the slower market took its toll.

The firm said its retention rate for estate agents – the proportion who keep using the website to advertise properties – had slipped to 85 per cent this year, compared to 92 per cent in 2007.

Rightmove, which currently has 19,500 advertisers, blamed the decline on "an increase in agents ceasing trading". It went on to warn that the number of agent closures would increase during the quarter to 30 June this year, compared with the previous three months.

In a further sign of the troubled housing market, Rightmove said the average time that new home developments were staying on the website was lengthening.

More than 200 developers have switched to 12-month advertising contracts instead of monthly deals as the selling time stretched out, it added.

But despite the housing market slowdown, Rightmove told investors it had continued to trade strongly this year.