Hybrid and online estate agents have enjoyed a surge in instructions, fresh analysis shows.

Data collected between January 2022 to April 2022 from Zoopla, Rightmove and Home.co.uk reveals that the market share of online estate agents market increased from around 12% in April last year to 18% last month.

The study, by online property platform 99Home, found that Purplebricks continues to lead the way in the online and hybrid agency sector with 21,752 listings in April 2022, up 9.71% from the start of the year.

But it is 99Home and Strike that have seen the greatest growth, with listings up 32% and 46.78% respectively between January and April 2022.

Despite the increase in property instructions, high street agents continue to see off their online rivals when it comes to market share for properties sold.

The percentage of homes sold by online and hybrid agents remains rather low – at below 7% of overall market share.

A report by the property consultancy TwentyCi, carried out at the end of last year, revealed that the online/hybrid sector of the estate agency industry is dominated by three main players – Purplebricks, Yopa and Strike, who represent close to 70% of the market.

The Property & Homemovers End of Year Report for 2021 highted the fact that there was a shift to online across a number of sectors during the pandemic, but pointed out that the estate agency sector did not follow suit.

Industry analyst questions ‘viability’ of online agency model as market share falls