Eight in 10 Prime London Homes Now Sell Below Asking
Private bank Coutts says prices in prime central London fell 5% in the third quarter, with sellers accepting an average 10% discount.
Eight in ten homes in London's most exclusive neighbourhoods, among them Mayfair, Belgravia and Knightsbridge, now sell below their asking price. That is the finding of research by Coutts, the private bank.
Prices in prime central London fell 5% in the third quarter of 2026. Properties are going for an average of 10% less than the asking price, so some wealthy owners face losses of hundreds of thousands of pounds, or more.
Far below the 2014 peak
The top end of the market now sits 14% under its 2014 peak. Coutts points to Brexit, the Covid pandemic, higher property taxes and a surge in borrowing costs. Agents in the capital also report less interest from foreign-born buyers since the non-dom tax regime was abolished.
Knightsbridge, Belgravia and South Kensington have been hit hardest, Coutts said. Knightsbridge and Belgravia, and South Kensington, are 30.8% and 26.9% below their peaks respectively.
Fewer sellers, fewer sales
Owners are holding back. New listings fell 14% on the previous quarter, and available stock is down 6% on a year earlier. Transactions were 9.1% lower in the quarter. The sharpest drop, 22.3%, came in the £2m-£5m band.
Alex Webster, head of lending at the bank, said buyers and sellers at the top end had taken a more cautious approach even before the chancellor's first budget this week. Sellers will now watch to see whether it "encourages some of that delayed activity to return", she said. "But financing conditions and the wider economic environment will continue to influence the market."
The Bank of England has held its key rate at 3.75%, with no change since last December. Volatility in the bond market has pushed up the swap rates that influence pricing of fixed-rate mortgages. Expectations are growing that the monetary policy committee will vote next week to raise the rate to 4%, the first increase in three years.
Separate research from the estate agent Savills shows the very top still moving. Buyers there drove 26 transactions above £10m in the third quarter, taking the total to 127 over the past year. Together those sales were worth £2.88bn.
Source: The Guardian