January is a great time for bargains. There are discounts on clothes, shoes, electrical products, kitchens — and now on properties.
The property market saw its first wave of reductions at the end of 2024. According to data from Hamptons, sellers all over the country were willing to accept larger price cuts at the close of last year, with the median discount more than doubling from £2,000 between July and September to £5,000 between October and December.
“London currently offers the biggest ‘January sale’ the real estate market has seen in a long time,” says Becky Fatemi, partner at Sotheby’s International Realty. “At the end of last year, it was becoming evident that with the recent budget, price reductions were required and strategies needed re-evaluating. We were also taking over a lot of other listings that other agents had overvalued. To list and launch with us, we had to have firm but fair conversations about realistic expectations and correct pricing.”
Camilla Dell, founder of buying agency Black Brick, agrees: “We’re definitely seeing price reductions. They’re not all being played out publicly online, on portals, particularly at the super prime £15 million plus part of the market, for obvious reasons. Sellers are quite reluctant to display how bad the market is, for want of a better word.
“Anybody that’s a serious seller is having to come to terms with the fact that there are far fewer transactions happening and fewer buyers. Therefore, if you want to get on, you’ve got to be realistic and pragmatic with your pricing.”
At the top end, Dell says she has seen discounts as big as 50 per cent. “That’s in the most extreme cases…where something had an extremely ambitious or unrealistic asking price two or three years ago and is now selling for half of that.”
In prime central London, the average discount in December was 8.5 per cent —less than the same period in 2023— but the number of price reductions in 2024 was 15 per cent higher than in 2023, according to data collected by LonRes. This week, Zoopla’s house price data showed that properties in London’s most expensive areas had the biggest decreases in value, with the average home in Kensington and Chelsea down by £44,300, higher than anywhere else in the country.
Why are prices being reduced?
Price reductions across London are down to a combination of factors, including unrealistic pricing, high interest rates, greater supply —there were 10.7 per cent more homes on the market in prime central London in December than the previous year, LonRes found— and the current strength of the dollar against the pound. Fatemi, for example, says she is “extremely busy” with US buyers at the moment. “US dollar-holding buyers with, say, $10 million to spend, have £500,000 more pounds to spend because of the low-performing pound,” she says. “Where they are motivated, we are getting deals agreed.”
Dell, likewise, says she is seeing sellers becoming more motivated. “Some sellers are having to sell and getting to the point where they’re under pressure from banks, or where they have to downsize, they’ve got to release equity. It’s not what I’d call distressed, but they’re highly motivated, for different reasons. Those are the sellers that are taking the biggest hits. They understand the realities of the market, and they’re listening to their agents.”
Impending stamp duty increases are also expediting deals, but, says Nick Gregori, LonRes’ head of research, “in prime central London the figures involved are small compared to purchase costs.” Instead, Gregori says that properties around the £5 million price point have been most impact by tax changes, with high interest rates also making buyers more price sensitive. According to Hamptons, it’s first-time buyers that are rushing most to complete sales before April, with half of all London sales in November and December made by this group.
Not all properties in the capital are having their prices slashed, though. Fatemi is still seeing strong demand for prime properties within brand new developments, with some prices even increasing due to lack of supply. Family homes in highly desirable areas where supply is lower and wealthy owners aren’t under pressure to sell continue to hold their value, says Dell.
“There are certain pockets of London which are very resilient, where you fundamentally still have an issue of not enough supply. I think Notting Hill is a prime example of that, particularly at the super prime end and on the highly desirable roads backing onto the communal gardens,” she says. “It’s not a case of the whole of London being on sale and everything being distressed. It’s very nuanced.”
Where prices are being cut, are they boosting interest? “Absolutely,” says Dell. “The lower a seller dares to go, the higher their chances are of attracting more interest and more footfall. We’re in a market where there’s lots of opportunistic buyers out there. They will completely ignore anything that they deem to be overpriced. The minute that something starts to look competitive, it will absolutely attract a lot of interest.”
Fatemi agrees. This week, Sotheby’s International Realty reduced an apartment in Chelsea’s Cadogan Court, bringing it down from £6.95 million to £6.5 million. “We’ve already had five enquiries today from people who had previously seen it at the higher price,” she says. “We always recommend a minimum 10 per cent price reduction, and this is happening across the board.”
Interested in picking up a (relative) bargain? Here are 10 properties with some of London’s biggest price drops.
Cadogan Court, Draycott Avenue, Chelsea
Cadogan Court, Chelsea
Sotheby’s International Realty
With interiors by Taylor Howes, there’s air conditioning, a large entertaining area and 2,470 square feet of space.
Reduced by £1.951 million
Chatsworth Road, Ealing
Grimshaw/Zoopla
Price now: £1.999 million
First listed for £3,950,000 in February last year, this property has been reduced six times, bringing the price down by almost £2 million. The latest price cut, in November, wiped £200,999 off the asking price.
The 2,157 square foot chalet bungalow sits on a double plot and, unusually, covers two postal addresses. It’s currently arranged as a four-bedroom home over two floors, and has been in the same family for 72 years.
Abbey Road, St John’s Wood
Abbey Road, St John’s Wood
Foxtons/Zoopla
This three-bedroom flat has had a third of its asking price cut since May last year. It was listed for £1.5 million, receiving four price reductions. Its most recent, this month, brought the total down to £1 million. The property is being sold via online auction next week.
Set in a Grade II-listed Baptist church conversion, the flat spans the building’s fourth and fifth floors, with vaulted ceilings and two unusual studies inside the building’s turrets.
Reduced by £5.75 million
Constable Close, Hampstead Garden Suburb
Constable Close, Hampstead Garden Suburb
Bargets/Zoopla
According to Zoopla, this seven-bedroom house was first advertised for £6,450,000 in 2017. It was taken off the market until September last year, when it was re-listed for £15,750,000. In December, its price was cut by an enormous £5.75 million, representing a 36.5 per cent discount.
The sprawling property measures 6,891 square feet and has been remodelled as a “sleep and wellness sanctuary”, with a swimming pool complex —featuring an “Olympic level jet”— sauna and hyperbaric oxygen chamber. The air and water supply is filtered, the wiring “shielded to prevent electromagnetic noise” and the non-flicker lighting “designed to mimic nature”. According to the agents, it has only been on the market once in the last 50 years.
Telfords Yard, Wapping
Stirling Ackroyd/Zoopla
This two-bedroom apartment hit the market for £1.25 million in July last year, and has since seen £450,000 —a 36 per cent discount— knocked off its asking price.
Located in a warehouse conversion, there’s 962 square feet of space, an open plan kitchen and reception room and a 24-hour concierge.
Reduced by £1.55 million
Admiral Square, Chelsea
Strutt & Parker/Zoopla
Price drop: £3.95 million
First listed in May last year for £5.5 million, this four-bedroom flat has seen three price reductions. The most recent, this month, saw the asking price come down to £3.95 million: 1.55 million (28 per cent) less than the original asking price.
Located on the third floor of the building, the riverside apartment spans 4,112 square feet. There are three reception rooms, four bathrooms and three balconies, plus four secure underground car parking spaces. The development has security and a 24-hour concierge.
Reduced by £4.55 million
Queens Grove, St John’s Wood
Queens Grove, St John’s Wood
Savills/Zoopla
Price now: £14.95 million
This six-bedroom family home has had a £4.55 million price cut since it was listed for £19.5 million in February last year. It was reduced to £16.8 million in September, and in December, a further £1.85 million was knocked off the price.
The white stucco villa spans 6,802 square feet over five floors. A family room in the basement, vast outdoor terrace and five reception rooms provide entertaining space, while there’s also a southwest facing garden and gated off-street parking.
Mount Avenue, Ealing
Gardiners/Zoopla
This seven-bedroom house has had three price reductions since it was listed in March last year, bringing its asking price down from £3,950,000 to £2,999,950 in November.
Spanning 4,748 square feet, the property is arranged internally as four separate flats: two-bedroom apartments on the ground and top floors, and a one-bedroom flat and studio in between. There’s also a large front garden, garage and extensive cellars on the lower ground floors.
Reduced by £1.55 million
Eaton Place, Belgravia
Sotheby’s International Realty/Zoopla
Price now: £9.95 million
This month, this four-bedroom penthouse apartment was given a £1.55 million (13.5 per cent) price cut, after being listed for £11.5 million in September.
Covering 3,013 square feet over two floors, one of the property’s key selling points is its finishings: its green marble bathroom, black marble kitchen, oak herringbone parquet floors, mahogany panelled family room and high ceilings.
Leopold Road, Wimbledon
John D Wood & Co./Zoopla
Listed for £1.625 million in April last year, this three-bedroom flat was reduced in October, and is now down to £1.05 million, representing a price cut of £575,000 (35 per cent). It is being sold at auction.
Set inside a period building, the property is being marketed as a refurbishment opportunity. There are three bedrooms, a parking space and a garage, and there’s potential to extend the loft space.