The most competitive cities to be an estate agent

The latest research by leading property recruitment specialists, Rayner Personnel, has revealed which UK cities are currently proving the most competitive where the ratio of estate agents to listed properties is concerned.

Rayner looked at the number of residential estate agents operating across 23 UK cities and compared this figure to the number of properties currently listed for sale online to find the average number of listings per agent.  

The research shows that Aberdeen is currently the most competitive market to be an estate agent. Based on the number of estate agents currently listed on Zoopla (39) and the number of residential properties listed for sale (511), there is just an average of 13 properties for every estate agent in the city.

Cambridge ranks as the second most competitive city to be an estate agent, with an average of just 15 properties for every one agent operating in the city, while Edinburgh and Leicester complete the top three with an average of 16 properties per agent in each city.

Oxford (18), Manchester (21), Glasgow (21) and Bristol (22) also rank in the top 10.  

While London is home to by far the most abundant level of available stock (98,637) there are also some 4,041 agents battling it out to sell it.

This results in an average of just 24 properties per agent in the capital, with Southampton and Newcastle home to an average of 25 properties per agent, while Bournemouth (26) and Cardiff (27) complete the top 10.

In contrast, Newport (46), Liverpool (41), Plymouth (39), Sheffield (37) and Leeds (36) rank as the least competitive in terms of the stock available to the volume of agents trying to sell it.

Founder and CEO of Rayner Personnel, Josh Rayner, commented: “The market has exploded back to life in recent months and many agents will be relishing the chance to get stuck back into work after the boredom of lockdown and the industry restrictions imposed as a result.  

Estate agency has always been an incredibly competitive profession, and in fact, it’s one of the things that drives the best agents to perform day in, day out. 

While we’ve highlighted the most competitive cities based on the ratio of agents to stock, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing and agents across the UK must ensure they are on the top of their game if they want to succeed.  

This means having the best team around you, providing above and beyond service and, in more recent years, embracing technology to help improve performance. By doing so you can further your reach and list properties outside of your traditional operational boundaries which can also help you to remain profitable.

If you build a business based on a mixture of great technology and great people, there’s no reason you can’t succeed in today’s sector, even in the most competitive of spaces.”