Early signs of recovery are emerging in London’s sales market, according to our February data. After several months of subdued activity ahead of the late November Budget, we are seeing tentative improvements across new instructions, agreed sales, enquiries, and viewings.
In February, terms agreed rose by 30.9% month-on-month, while new instructions increased by 7.3, highlighting renewed confidence among both buyers and sellers. Property portal enquiries were down just 3.3% year-on-year, an improvement on January’s 6.3% decline, showing that market activity is beginning to recover.
Viewings, offers, and exchanges, which typically lag portal activity, also showed smaller year-on-year declines than in January and were far less severe than in the run-up to the Budget. This signals that the market is stabilising and that pent-up demand is starting to be released.
Affordability, while still more stretched in London than the UK average, has been improving. Nationwide data shows that the average London home in Q4 2025 was 8.8x average earnings for a full-time worker, down from 11.1x in Q2 2022. This provides additional support for renewed buyer activity.
These trends are reflected in improving agent sentiment across the capital. According to the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) UK Residential Market Survey, more London agents now expect sales volumes to rise over the next three months than to fall, marking the first improvement since September 2025. In the latest survey, 17% more agents reported expecting an increase in sales, up from 12% in January, indicating that early signs of pent-up demand are being realised.
‘’Improving affordability in London, along with the early signs of returning buyer activity, suggests that the market is gradually regaining momentum. We are seeing buyers and sellers starting to re-engage, and we expect this cautious optimism to support a steady strengthening of activity over the coming months.’’ Adam Jennings, Head of Residential