London Property | Sloane International Developments

Sloane International Development

In 2007 there were 1.6 million residential property transactions in the UK with a total

value of £361 billion. The economic downturn has seen a sharp decline in the

number of homes being bought and sold. Transactions fell considerably up to 2009

and only recovered slightly to 884,000 in 2011.3

There are approximately 14,000 traditional residential estate agent offices in the

UK.4. The traditional estate agency market, excluding fees for ancillary services,

worth approximately £4.2 billion in 2007, falling to £2.1 billion in 2008, mainly

because of the large drop in transactions. Virtually all estate agents have an online

presence and most also market their property details through one of the major. The market for home buying and selling is still dominated by traditional estate agents. Research carried out for the OFT market study found that at that time 87 per

cent of sellers used a traditional estate agent, a similar proportion to those surveyed

in an earlier 2004 study. This proportion had increased from the position in 1979

when the then Price Commission surveyed sellers and found that just 73 per cent

used an estate agent, while 25 per cent of homes were sold privately. In their more

recent work, the OFT found that 11 per cent of sellers sold privately while auctions

were very rarely used, at least for private individuals selling their own home. Onlineonly estate agents were still at the fringe of the market, with only two per cent of

sellers choosing to use one. There now appear to be approximately 20 online-only

estate agents and fewer than 30 private sale portals; from feedback received, the

number of private sale portals is decreasing and their geographical reach is rather

limited. Online-only estate agents offer traditional estate agent services to

consumers but operate without high street premises. Private sales portals provide a

platform for private sellers to display property details, some provide information

about the buying and selling process and some provide tools to allow the buyer to

communicate with the seller. Sloane, a Real Estate company, is a global leader in property services. In the United Kingdom, we provide occupiers and investors around the world with industry leading, end-to-end property solutions. In addition, our award winning research and consulting services provide our clients with global and local market knowledge, forecasting and trend analysis to make the bestlong-term decisions for their continuous success far into the future.

From our origins in 18th century England to a 21st century global operation, sloane has enjoyed a reputation for excellence providing leading-edge property insight and on-the-ground delivery to investors, developers, corporate and public sector occupiers and financial intermediaries.

Thesloane globleteam is united by a single focus – to deliver our clients exceptional service, rooted in a deep understanding of their needs and a commitment to theirlong-term success.

We serve our clients across the breadth of their real estate needs. We are always frank in our advice, taking a stand in our clients’ interests, and we are relentless in delivering value for our clients as we move from advice to action.