Following the news that the share price of online estate agency Purplebricks fell 73% in 2020;

Wafaa Hassan at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view:

“A strong online presence has helped many companies survive and thrive during the COVID-19 lockdown. However, this has not been the case in every sector and the pandemic has hit some ecommerce companies particularly hard, including online estate agencies such as Rightmove and Purplebricks.”

“COVID-19 has had a significant negative impact on the housing market worldwide. In the UK, there has been a 55% drop in the rental demand since 7 March 2020, according to property information provider Zoopla. The uncertainty caused by the pandemic has forced many consumers to delay large purchases and put possible moves on hold during the lockdown.”

“Purplebricks’ shares on the London Stock Exchange have fallen 73% in 2020, to 34.50p at the close of trading on 22 April from 128.60p at close on 31 December 2019. The company has taken significant measures to reduce costs, including suspending TV and radio advertising campaigns and significantly reducing online marketing spend. GlobalData’s thematic rankings has predicted that COVID-19 would have a significant negative effect on online estate agencies like Purplebricks and Rightmove, with both companies received the lowest thematic ranking of one out of five.”