Sellers, many of whom are likely making onward purchases, appear willing to accept larger discounts.
This is according to estate agency Hamptons, looking at company data relating to Q4 2024. The median discount more than doubled from £2,000 in Q3 to £5,000 in Q4 2024, surpassing the maximum £2,500 increase in a mover’s stamp duty bill from April.
Even so, the average seller in England & Wales achieved 98.1% of their final asking price in the final quarter of last year, a figure that remains higher than comparable pre-Covid periods.
The average first-time buyer secured a median £2,000 discount in Q4 2024, having been unable to secure a discount in Q3. Those purchasing their first home which cost more than £300,000 managed to negotiate larger savings, with a median discount of £5,000.
And Hamptons says first-time buyers are rushing to purchase homes before stamp duty thresholds change in April 2025.
The share of homes bought by first-time buyers across Great Britain increased to 31.8% in November and December 2024, the highest figure on record. Throughout the whole of 2024, first-time buyers purchased 31.2% of homes sold across the country, which in itself was also an all-time high.
This increase comes in response to the announcement in the Budget that the threshold at which first-time buyers start paying stamp duty will fall from £425,000 to £300,000 from April 2025. The change is expected to more than triple the proportion of first-time buyers liable for stamp duty from 8% to 26%.
There’s been a particular increase in the share of first-time buyers purchasing more expensive homes who stand to save the most before stamp duty rises in April. Someone purchasing their first home for £625,000 will see the biggest increase in their tax bill from April, rising by £11,250.
First-time buyers purchased a record 20.8% of £425,000+ homes sold in November and December, compared to 17.5% for the whole year and up from 14.5% in 2023. In the last two months of 2024, 10% of first-time buyers paid more than £425,000 for their home, up from 8% for the whole of 2024.
In contrast, the share of homes sold for less than £300,000 to a first-time buyer fell to 34.1% in the last months of the year from 34.8% for the whole of 2025. These new buyers won’t see their stamp duty bill rise next year, therefore there’s less of a rush.
The more affordable parts of the country, where first-time buyers are least likely to see their stamp duty bill rise, generally saw a fall in the share of new homeowners.
In Wales, the share of homes bought by first-time buyers fell from 23% in 2024 as a whole to 19% in the final two months of the year. The same was true in the North East, the most affordable region in the country, where the proportion fell from 18% to 17%. Here, just 3% of first-time buyers will pay stamp duty from April, slightly up from 1% today.
Meanwhile, Yorkshire & the Humber saw the biggest rise in the share of homes bought by a first-time buyer, closely followed by the South West, West Midlands and London.
First-time buyers purchased half (50%) of all homes sold in the capital during the last two months of 2024, the highest share in the country. Some 69% of these buyers purchased a home costing more than £300,000 and so will save if they are able to complete before the end of March.