Purplebricks closes its Australian operation with just 800 listings on its site

Only 800 listings remain on Purplebricks' property portal when it held 1,000 two weeks ago. This is due in part to vendors leaving Purplebricks for other local real estate agents.

The remaining 800 offerings range from around $2.9 million to $3.2 million at 30 Boundary Road, Narre Warren East (pictured above), a four bedroom, three bathroom house set on 6.47 hectares to $30,000 for Lot 30 Melvin Terrace, Pinery.

The 1012 square metre Pinery holding has been unsuccessfully offered to market multiple times over the past six years, with the asking price reaching $133,270 from 2014 - 2016.

According to their website, around 85 agents are still on deck.

In early May, Purplebricks Australia announced its intention to exit the Australian market.

Despite the newly-installed CEO Neil Tavender and Kenny Bruce having overhauled the pricing model, so that half the fee was paid upfront and half on completion of the sale, Purplebricks have been forced to abandon the Australian market.

The pressure on the Australian business was most clearly exposed when it reported an $18 million interim loss for the six months to October last year.

Vic Darvey, the Purplebricks Group CEO said in May that after much consideration it had "made the difficult decision to close the Australian business".

"We’ve been operating here for two and half years and, unfortunately, we have been unable to make the progress in the Australian market that we’ve wanted, despite the tireless efforts of our employees."

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