Tough times ahead

Up to 15 000 estate agents could be out of business by the end of the year, the Business Day reported on Monday. 14/04/08
Herschel Jawitz, CEO of Jawitz Properties, said the market would find a "fairly significant fall off" in the number of registered estate agents this year.
"It could be as much as a 15% to 20% fall off, which translates into around 10 000-15 000 fewer estate agents," said Jawitz.
He said there were about 80 000 estate agents registered with the Estate Agency Affairs Board.
He said the challenge for estate agents at the moment was less a matter of property prices and much more the volume of home sales, which had also declined by as much as 20% year-on-year