Consumers Willing To Adopt Alternative Methods Of Buying And Selling Homes Says News Research From OFT
Office Of Fair Trading / eGov Monitor – 12 November, 2009
The OFT has today published four research reports undertaken as part of its market study into home buying and selling. These comprise a survey of estate agents, a survey of trading standard services and both qualitative and quantitative consumer research.
Evidence from the research suggests that consumers are increasingly open to alternative methods of buying or selling a home. While the large majority of sellers used a traditional estate agent, more than a third initially considered selling privately, using an online estate agent, or selling at auction.
There is a marked increase in interest in online estate agents relative to our previous survey in 2004.
Consumer satisfaction with the services provided by estate agents has improved – 88 per cent of both buyers and sellers were satisfied with the service provided by estate agents, a higher level of satisfaction than five years ago (72 per cent of buyers and 74 per cent of sellers).
The majority of consumer complaints in the sector are about the individual buyer or seller on the other side of the transaction or their solicitor, rather than with the estate agent involved.
One of the surveys asked Trading Standards about enforcement action against estate agents. On average, 24 per cent of estate agents were found not to be complying with the relevant regulations on the first visit from Trading Standards officers.
