The consensus amongst property professionals across prime central London is that this is a very price-sensitive market. The economic and political headwinds are providing challenges, and yet looking across our core areas of operations at Maskells, there is true cause to be positive.
Data from our friends at LonRes shows that transaction volumes in Q4 2024 were up 9.6% YOY. This data marries with our experience at that time, and we continue to see an increase in transaction volume as we come close to the end of Q1 2025
Our transaction volumes were up 23% at 2024 Year End compared with 2023 and we have seen a very positive start to 2025: across our offices, viewing numbers are up by 15% to date compared to this time last year and offer numbers are up 45% in the same period. This translates to Maskells having agreed to more sales in early 2025 than we have seen in the same period in previous years.
What is also encouraging is the decrease in our viewing-to-offer ratio. Our 10-year average is around 8 viewings per offer. So far this year, our viewing-to-offer ratio is 6.2, which demonstrates that there is a high degree of commitment from buyers.
There are fewer buyers in the market, but the buyers we source through our wide-reaching marketing and global network of contacts are fully focused and committed. This pool of committed buyers is being well received by our Vendors and our Vendors are taking note of our price advice, required for this engagement.
Properties have to go through a process of price adjustments, and once at the level the market agrees with, multiple offers are made, and the new asking price is often exceeded. This is to be expected as buyers feel more confident if they know they are not bidding alone.
Which brings us on to time. In years gone by, particularly in a rising market, sellers could price high and use time as an ally – over time, values will rise to meet an ambitious initial asking price. In this climate, we are seeing very fine margins and if there is much of a gap between asking price and where buyers see value, offers are hard to extract.
For a property that has been on the market for some time, often a greater correction in price is needed later. However, when the correction is agreed we see the eager commitment and regular competition and a much faster resolution.
Our sales over the last six months show that the average time between a property being exposed to the market at the correct price to elicit offers and an offer accepted; either being fresh to the market or after a price adjustment, is 39 days. So far in 2025, this time period is just 16 days.
When priced correctly, we are seeing robust interest levels and buyers eager to commit capital. The prospect of interest rate cuts will of course bring more buyers forward and is helpful for market sentiment, however, the majority of our buyers remain cash buyers.
