Purplebricks struggles with 'hefty' valuation: Michael Allen
Shareholders could choose to sell their stake in online estate agent Purplebricks, as its "hefty" valuation may not live up to its hype, according to equity specialist Michael Allen. His warning came on the back of analysis by Jefferies, which stated that between November 2015 and March 2016, Purplebricks completed sales on just 14% of houses in three sample areas: Bournemouth, Southampton and Birmingham. Allen suggested the company's share price could drop, saying he sensed "weakness ahead."
An equity specialist has warned that shareholders may now choose this is the time to sell their stakes in Purplebricks because “there is a risk that its hefty valuation will not live up to its much-advertised hype.”

Michael Allen, an equity specialist contributing to financial news service Proactive Investors, writes that “since trading at peak in July, the shares have gradually drifted lower ... Purplebricks claims to be the best-reviewed estate agency online, but if it is not selling homes, there is a risk that its hefty valuation will not live up to its much-advertised hype.”

Allen’s reference to not selling homes follows an analysis some months ago by another financial specialist, Anthony Codling of Jefferies, who calculates that between November 2015 and March 2016 only 14 per cent of homes listed on Purplebricks in three sample areas - Bournemouth, Southampton and Birmingham - had actually completed.