Prime London property demand rallied in Q4

The latest Prime London Demand Index by London lettings and estate agent, Benham and Reeves, reveals that buyer demand for prime property across London’s most prestigious neighbourhoods climbed during the final quarter of 2024, up by +2.7%, whilst there was a +1.6% increase across the super prime market.

The Prime London Demand Index* by Benham and Reeves monitors demand for London’s most expensive properties based on the level of market activity seen between the £2m to £10m threshold and the super prime market of £10m+. Demand is based on the proportion of all homes listed for sale across the prime market that have already been sold subject to contract.

Prime market (£2m to £10m)

The latest index shows that across the prime market (£2m to £10m), 19.7% of prime London properties had found a buyer in Q4 2024, marking a 2.7% increase versus the previous quarter.

Wapping tops the table where the largest increase in quarterly demand is concerned, having seen an +18.8% increase versus Q3.

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.

Super prime market (£10m+)

At the very top of London’s property ladder, 4.1% of available properties listed for sale found a buyer in Q4 2024. Not only does this see super prime London property demand climb by +1.6% versus the previous quarter, but it also sits some +2.5% up versus Q4 2023.

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.

Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, 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.”