Online home improvement stores 'overtake' estate agents
Property professionals
26th September 2008
As the credit crunch continues, people are increasingly shunning online estate agents in favour of internet DIY and furniture retailers.
New research from internet usage monitors Hitwise found that visits to online estate agents have dropped from 0.85 per cent of all UK web visits a year ago, to just 0.55 last month.
Meanwhile, the amount of visits to home and garden retailers has increased from 0.4 per cent to 0.59 per cent over the same period, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Robin Goad, research director at Hitwise, commented: "One of the factors behind the success of house and garden retailers online has been the increase in online DIY queries as people look to improve their accommodation on a budget.
The study also found that the top ten 'how to' searches relating to DIY have risen up by a quarter in the last year.
Founded in 1997, Hitwise measures internet user data on one million websites.
