Demand for Prime London properties increased in the fourth quarter of 2024, as 19.7% of properties in the £2m to £10m bracket found a buyer.
This marks an increase of 2.7% from the third quarter, the Prime London Demand Index by London lettings and estate agent Benham and Reeves shows.
There was a similar trend in the £10m plus market, 4.1% of available properties listed for sale found a buyer in Q4 2024, 1.6% more than the quarter before.
Marc von Grundherr, director of Benham and Reeves, said: “We saw a significant increase in buyer demand levels across the prime London market during the final quarter of last year, with more homes going under offer across both the prime and super prime markets when compared to Q3.
“This is despite the fact that second home stamp duty rates increased immediately following the Autumn Statement at the end of October.
“Of course, the real motivator isn’t the increase on second homes, it’s the soon to expire relief thresholds that will revert back to previous come 1st April next. Stamp duty is a rather sizable charge on a prime London home and so it’s no surprise that high-end buyers are as keen to beat the countdown as any other buyer in the London market.”
Regional look
In the £2m to £10m bracket Wapping has seen an 18.8% increase in demand-quarter-on-quarter.
At 11.7%, Putney has also seen a considerable increase in prime London buyer activity on a quarterly basis, with Clapham (+9%), Islington (+7%) and Chiswick (+6%) completing the top five largest quarterly increases.
At £10m plus Wimbledon has seen the largest quarterly increase in super prime buyer demand, up 50% versus Q3 2024, with Notting Hill (+6.3%), Holland Park (+4.3%), Mayfair (+3.4%) and Kensington (+0.3%) all seeing quarterly improvements.