'This feels like a rare moment when long-term value can genuinely be unlocked': Is now the time to buy in the country property market?
House prices have eased in the last couple of years in some of the most beautiful parts of Britain — but have they bottomed out? Annabel Dixon tracks the data and speaks to experts across the property industry to find out.
The traditional spring house selling season is under away. And in scenic West Sussex, where much of the countryside is designated as a National Landscape or National Park, buyers ‘are waking up to a rare opportunity to secure a country house at a price that would have seemed pretty remarkable three years ago’, according to Jennie Hancock, of buying agency Property Acquisitions.
Matt Sudlow, of another buying agency, Stoneacre Advisors, paints a not dissimilar picture. He says he is looking at a house off-market which started off at £20 million three years ago and is now available for half its original price.
According to exclusive research provided to Country Life from Hamptons, 28% of £1 million-plus homes outside London were reduced in price before selling in the period between July and September last year — that's below the England and Wales average of 46%. This could be because sellers at the higher end of the market are more prepared to stick it out until they get the price they want.
But price discounts, there are. The estate agency’s research shows that the typical £1m-plus home outside the capital achieved 95.9% of its final asking price during the third quarter last year — equivalent to a 4.1% discount.
While this level is broadly in line with the same time period in 2024 and the pre-Pandemic market of 2019, it is in contrast with 2022. Back then, these types of property — typically large, rural homes — achieved 99.9% of their final asking prices.
Ashopton Viaduct and Ladybower reservoir in the Peak District in Derbyshire, where rural property prices have eased in the years since the Pandemic.
Let’s rewind for a moment. The Pandemic-led race for space supercharged the country market, sending house prices soaring in the years that followed. According to Savills, the number of £1 million-plus homes in Britain jumped by 41% between 2019 and 2022.
But that momentum has since reversed, says Lucian Cook, Savills' head of residential research. Higher mortgage costs and taxes as well as changing lifestyles are among the factors that have taken their toll on the market. Consequently, the number of homes worth £1 million or more has dropped by 9% since 2022.
For Sudlow, there ‘finally’ appears to be signs that sellers’ price expectations are becoming more sensible in some cases: ‘Houses which haven’t sold for the past two or even three years, where vendors expected post-Covid prices, are now becoming more realistic.’
He adds: ‘Conversely, where vendors are sensible on guide price from the outset there are still competitive bidding scenarios for best-in-class houses and estates — but this is rare.
‘Buyers for any one property can still easily be counted on one hand and in general supply is still outstripping demand.’
Further analysis by Hamptons of home sales of all price points outside London reveals that eight of the 15 counties with the biggest discounts in the first nine months of 2025 were in Wales. This is based on the difference between final asking price and offer accepted price.
Other counties in the ranking include West Sussex, Surrey, Hertfordshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire — all in and around the Home Counties — plus Derbyshire and Lincolnshire in the Midlands.
According to Hancock, ‘decent’ discounts can be secured in West Sussex: ‘Around 10% is typical, but in some cases as much as 20% or even 25% compared to the autumn 2021 peak,' she explains.
‘One village house near Petworth, which would normally be snapped up off-market or go to sealed bids, launched last May at £2.5 million and is still on the market. Now the agent is openly seeking offers around the £2 million. It’s a great opportunity to secure a lovely house at a price level we probably won’t see again.’
Claire Whisker, of platform First in the Door, refers to a country house in Hampshire that was listed for £6.5 million last year, withdrawn from the market, and relisted at the start of this year. It subsequently sold for £3.5 million.
In Sudlow’s opinion, we are likely to be at or close to the bottom of the cycle. Hancock takes a similar view: ‘Without a crystal ball it’s impossible to call the bottom of the market until it’s started to turn, and we’re not quite there yet, but I don’t expect prices to fall much further from here,’ she says.
‘For buyers committing to a 10-year move, this feels like a rare moment when long-term value can genuinely be unlocked.’
Housing market cycles aside, is this a smart time of year for buyers to pounce — or should they hold back until the choice of homes on the market increases?
For George Nares of the Blue Book Agency, there are good reasons to push ahead. He points out that properties launched before the traditional spring market may have already been marketed in the autumn and sat around over the winter months. ‘In some cases, that can create slightly more room for negotiation than with a freshly launched property attracting new attention,’ he says.
Tim Abbot of Curchods is even clearer about it. 'This is one of the most overlooked yet strategically astute times to buy a country house in Surrey,’ he says.
‘Vendors often favour discreet winter viewings as they test pricing and buyer appetite, giving committed buyers early access to some of the best houses before competition intensifies,’ Abbot adds.
‘Demand typically builds steadily from January into the spring, while international buyer activity across Surrey’s private estates can soften during the winter months.’
Whisker also believes this time of year offers a strong window of opportunity to negotiate, thanks to a combination of motivated sellers, fewer competing bids, and a growing volume of homes being shown quietly off-market before the spring rush.
On top of that, she points out, negotiations can be about more than just selling price: ‘With fewer competing bids, buyers are often able to set the pace on timings, push for favourable conditions, and secure additional value within the deal.'
Not everyone is so sure, however. Trying to ‘time’ the country house market rarely works, believes Jamie Freeman, of buying agency Haringtons UK. ‘If something exceptional appears and it works for a buyer, waiting in the hope that something better might come along can be a mistake.
‘The only real reason to wait is if a property is being marketed privately at an unrealistic level,' he adds. 'Occasionally a house introduced privately at an ambitious price needs the exposure of the open market before expectations adjust. But if the pricing is sensible and the property is right, good houses tend to sell quickly, whether they are officially launched or not.’
For buyers that are taking the plunge, Oliver Custance Baker of Strutt & Parker suggests that with building and labour costs stabilising, it’s a really good time to look at country houses that require TLC.
‘For a while, these properties tended to be overlooked, with many buyers favouring turnkey homes or those needing very little changed,' he says. 'Now that those pressures have eased, buyers are feeling more confident about taking on projects again.’
Strutt & Parker’s latest Housing Futures survey back this sentiment up, revealing an almost 50% year-on-year increase in the number of buyers considering a fixer-upper. In addition, 28% of those planning to buy in the next five years say that they would like to undertake major structural work, such as adding an extension or converting an attic.
For Claire Carter, of John D Wood & Co, those decisions aren't always a matter of choice: ‘Good quality homes remain in relatively limited supply, and buyers are continuing to favour ‘turnkey’ properties over those requiring extensive refurbishment — such homes are still quite rare in the country house market.’
