April 14 (Bloomberg) -- At least 4,000 U.K. real-estate agents from the 12,000 estimated to be in business may shut their doors by next year because of the collapse of the real- estate market, the London-based Times reported, citing Robin King, a director of real-estate agent network Movewithus.

The network's sales have dropped between 30 percent and 50 percent since last year, the newspaper said.

The Property Shop, an east England-based real estate agency, shut nine of its 10 offices and dismissed about 30 employees in April, just before its parent company, Alexander Partnership, went into administration, the newspaper said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lenka Ponikelska in London lponikelska1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 13, 2008 20:39 EDT