Transactions and prices in Prime London have seen substantial falls from what were already relatively weak positions, admits data firm LonRes.

Values were most affected, with the average achieved price across all prime London falling by 10.0% on an annual basis. 

This is the largest fall since the global financial crisis of 2008-09 and was driven primarily by prime central London where values have fallen 23% below their 2014/15 peak. 

The deals feeding into the latest pricing data are likely to have been agreed in the closing months of 2025 when the market was impacted by uncertainty surrounding potential tax changes in the Budget. 

It appears buyers took advantage of this to drive some hard bargains. 

The average discount from initial asking price increased to 10.8% in February, from a revised 10.0% in January.

Of all the properties sold in February, 58.8% did so after seeing at least one asking price reduction.  

Both measures are at their weakest since 2018-19, highlighting the lack of demand in the market over recent months.  

Transactions in February fell by 31.2% compared to a year ago and by 14.7% compared to the 2017-2019 (pre-pandemic) February average. 

On the supply side, new instructions across prime London in February were 5.4% lower than the same month last year but 34.8% higher than the 2017-2019 February average. 

Stock on the market at the end of February was up 10.3% compared to a year earlier, though it has fallen back by around 8% from the peak reached in September 2025.  

The number of price reductions in February was 35.7% higher than the same month last year and 73.3% higher than the 2017-2019 February average.

While the majority of the data so far this year has been negative, LonRes says there are some demand metrics that offer a little optimism. 

The number of under offers across prime London in February was 8.1% higher than the same month last year and 29.2% higher than the 2017-2019 February average. 

The number of enquiries from buying agents, who represent purchasers that are generally serious and motivated, has picked up after slowing for much of 2024 and 2025. 

The current 12-month average of enquiries is more than two and a half times the levels seen in 2017-2019.

The super prime segment has tracked the wider market closely so far in 2026, with activity a long way behind the equivalent period in 2025, a lot of stock on the market, but signs of improvement in the under offer numbers.

£5m+ transaction volumes in February were 54.8% lower than the same month last year and 5.0% lower than the 2017-2019 February average. 

While a single month of data from a relatively small market can overstate the situation, activity has been trending lower for many months. 

Under offer numbers rose by 15.0% compared with last February, potentially indicating an improvement in sales in the near future.

New instructions in February recorded a 3.2% fall compared to a year earlier but this is from a high starting point. 

At the end of February there were 9.7% more £5m+ properties on the market than at the same time last year and stock levels are significantly above the long-term average. 

With more property for sale there have been correspondingly high levels of price reductions. 

At 55.9%, the proportion of sold £5m+ properties that were reduced prior to sale is higher than a year ago (47.1%) and the long-term average of 35.6%.  

Similarly, £5m+ properties sold in February did so with an average discount of 13.6%, compared to 10.0% in the same month last year and a long-term average of 9.0%. 

Meanwhile lettings activity across prime London continued to recover in February. 

Rental growth remained negative on an annual basis, but the latest monthly figures suggest that further falls are unlikely in the near future.

LonRes data for February indicated an annual increase of 39.1% in lets agreed and a 26.6% increase in new instructions. 

The stock of available rental properties increased on an annual basis, with 38.7% more homes on the market across prime London at the end of February than a year earlier.

Average rental values fell by 0.5% on an annual basis in February, the third consecutive month with an annual decrease, although February saw a small increase on a monthly level, suggesting the falls have bottomed out for now. 

Longer-term, rents are 32.7% above their 2017-2019 (pre-pandemic) average.