A new report to investors by analysts at UBS says that the number of branches listing on Rightmove fell by 1,000 – or 4% – in the first six months of this year.

It adds that the overall number of agents listing on Rightmove is down 5% on a year ago, although it says that some may still be subscribers.

UBS says it obtained the data from its own ‘evidence lab’.

Its report comes ahead of Rightmove’s half-year results, covering the six months to the end of June, due to be published next week.

In its report UBS says: “This is a deterioration from the end of March 2019 when we downgraded Rightmove to sell, where advertiser numbers were down 2% year on year.

“This data reflects our view that estate agents who have survived the industry decline in commission rates are being further impacted as transaction volumes turn negative.”

In its own latest housing market report, published this month, Rightmove said that the number of properties coming to the market are down 7.8% year on year, and that completed transactions are down 4.6% in the year to date.

UBS says that some of the advertisers whose listings have vanished off Rightmove may still be members: “Some may just not have any listings on the platform.”

However, it forecasts that by the end of this year, Rightmove will have 750 fewer agent members than in December last year.

UBS believes that the financial hit to Rightmove’s revenues from this will be £3m to £4m next year.

It also forecasts a further £4m to £5m impact next year as agency numbers continue to decline, before returning to growth.

UBS has cut its forecast for Rightmove’s revenues for next year (2020) by £9m, to take account of around 900 fewer agents paying £800 monthly.

It is forecasting revenues at £285m this year, down 1.3% from its original forecasts, and £303m next year, down 3%.

It has also trimmed its forecasts for underlying operating profits. For this year, it is forecasting £217m, down 1.7% from £220m. For next year, it is forecasting £230m, down 3.9% from its original prediction of £239m.

UBS has maintained its Sell rating on Rightmove shares. It has also cut its price target for the shares from 505p to 500p.

UBS is forecasting first-half revenues of £131m in the results due to be posted next week. While this would be 8% up on the same period last year, it is £1m down from what UBS originally predicted.

Yesterday, Rightmove share prices remained unchanged at about 518p – but sharply down from 532p at the start of the week after falling on Tuesday when UBS released its report.