The market share of hybrid agents continued to decrease throughout last year with exchanges among this sector dropping to 5.2% in Q1 24 from 6.5% in Q1 23, new figures show.

Data provided by TwentyEA, part of the TwentyCi group, found that hybrid agents’ share of the market has trended lower since a high of 8.2% of exchanges in 2019.

However, self-employed agents have continued to gain momentum and accounted for 34% of new instructions in Q1 2024 across all hybrid agents – up from 25% in the same period last year.

In total, hybrid agents launched 5% of all new instructions in Q1 24 compared with 5.9% in Q1 23 – a drop of 15% but this hides the gains made by self-employed agents. They launched 1.7% of all new instructions in Q1 24 – up from 1.4% in Q1 23 – a rise of 18%.

The findings are part of the latest Property and Homemover Report from data insight specialist, TwentyCi. The report compares Q1 24 data with Q1 23.

TwentyEA defines self-employed agents as those without a physical branch, usually working under an umbrella brand such as eXp, Keller Williams or iAD. They define their own operating patch and multiple agents may work under the same brand in the same area. A percentage of their earnings goes to their Head Office, but they are fully responsible for how they run their businesses.

The diagram below shows that as a category, hybrid agents’ penetration across all property values has continued to fall. This is particularly evident at the higher end of the market but even among properties of £200,000 or less, market share for exchanged properties is still down.

 All regions of the UK continue to show a significant decline in market share for hybrid agents when comparing Q1 2024 with Q1 2023.

Katy Billany, executive director of TwentyEA, said: “Self-employed agents continued to gain momentum year-on-year despite hybrid agents continuing to lose market share overall. This downward trend has hidden the growth of self-employed agents – a sub-group of hybrid agents – who are demonstrating rapid growth within their sector.

“Currently we do not see hybrid agents posing a significant challenge to traditional high-street agents but that could change if the self-employed model continues to grow in popularity.

“With increasing change within the market, it’s important agents are continually working to build a competitive edge. One of the most effective ways to do this is by having the latest expert data-based insights at hand. Agents must monitor key performance metrics and use them to make informed strategic decisions.”