Strutt & Parker: Property sales gather apace

As with trees across the landscape, Strutt & Parker agents are reporting that the property market has a spring in its step this year, as a raft of brand-new instructions in offices across the country are attracting buyers who are keen to act, thanks to a combination of pent-up demand and favourable mortgage rates.

According to Strutt & Parker’s research department, the transition began towards the end of last year: ‘In the second half of 2024 we saw more movement in the market, as housing transactions topped 100,000 per month in Q4 – the first return to the pre-Covid average since rates climbed above 4% – as well as price growth of 4.6%,’ comments associate director in research Matt Henderson.

Typically, most of the business of buying and selling high-end properties takes place between April and October, but last year definitely bucked that trend. According to Mr Henderson this activity towards the end of the year was driven by a build-up of demand from the previous 18 months: ‘2024 provided lower and more stable mortgage rates, as well as a more positive sentiment, which allowed this demand to be released,’ he explains.

Head of residential at Strutt & Parker, Guy Robinson, concurs. ‘The start of 2025 has been very encouraging, particularly in terms of the activity around stock levels,’ he points out. ‘January saw potential vendors bringing properties to the market, particularly over £1m. This price point traditionally gathers pace in the spring, but seems to have jumped into action earlier this year,’ he adds.

At the same time Strutt & Parker’s country house department saw its applicants in January increase by 30% year-on-year: ‘These buyers are highly motivated, realistic and looking to transact,’ Mr Robinson concludes.

In the capital, the Prime Central London (PCL) market continues to attract steady business, according to James Gow, head of Strutt & Parker’s London agency: ‘The end of last year was very busy, with activity driven by increased confidence in the market and healthy demand from buyers. We expect this to continue, with lower bor- rowing costs expected as the base rate is cut, as well as an improving economic outlook,’ he states. Meanwhile the PCL rental market grew by 0.4% in 2024 in a year of two halves; the first six months saw rental growth, while in the second half rents came in by -0.5%.

This reduced growth has helped to spur on new business, with 8% more new lets year-on-year — the vast majority of which are flats — which now constitute 91% of the rental market. All price brackets saw increased activity in 2024, but it was the £1,000 to £2,000 market that led the way, growing by a healthy 13%.

In terms of the market nationally, property values rose by over 4.6% in 2024, and for the year ahead Strutt & Parker predicts 2% to 5% growth in house prices for 2025, with cumulative growth of 15% to 20% over the five years to 2029. Activity is expected to be strong this spring, driven in particular by first-time buyers looking to complete in advance of April’s Stamp Duty increase.

Just prior to this, the analysts in Strutt & Parkers’s country house department are also keeping an eye on the Spring Statement from The Chancellor on March 26. Widely expected to comprise an update on the economic and fiscal outlook, rather than a list of major new policy decisions, agents will nevertheless be looking out for even the smallest detail which could impact the market going forward.

Overall, Mr Henderson says his research department expects the confidence they are seeing so early in the year to continue into the rest of 2025: ‘A positive market, with increasing values, creates a snowball effect,’ he says. ‘Buyers enter the market, creating demand and this pushes up prices, which in turn make the market look more positive and this attracts more people to enter.’

For more information and research visit www.struttandparker.com