Thousands of estate agents could face losing their jobs as the credit crunch and a slowing housing market hit the industry, it has been claimed.
According to a study from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), the sector has a "tough couple of years" ahead, with 15,000 posts set to go in 2008.
The economic slowdown could see as many as five per cent of those currently employed as estate agents out of work, it added.
Other professions at risk of increasing unemployment this year because of the downturn in the housing market include architects and lawyers. Accountants, consultants and research and development firms could start to feel the squeeze in 2009, the report noted.
The president of the National Association of Estate Agents, Chris Brown, said: "I have no doubt people in the estate agent profession will lose their jobs but that is an enormous figure."
Despite the gloomy outlook for estate agents, new figures from the Office for National Statistics show overall employment in the UK hit 29.55 million in the second quarter of 2008 - the highest level since comparable records began in 1971.
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