Post-summer pick-up but long-term metrics down
Black Brick has reported a slow start to the autumn season for prime London sales, with activity picking up slightly since the summer but still down on long-term metrics, it said.
It reported that the number of deals done in September was nearly 17% below last year and below the pre-pandemic average too. The number of new instructions was down by 13% year on year.
The company said that the number of homes currently on sale was also down due to exasperated vendors taking their homes off the market rather than implementing successive price cuts, with withdrawals up 16% YOY in Q3.
Tom Kain, partner at Black Brick, said: “What this means is that the picture some people have is of an endless array of stock available in London is not true. People are withdrawing from the market if they don’t get the price they want and would rather wait and see how things pan out.”
A move to off-market sales
Difficulty selling prime property is also driving an increasing number off market, he said. “This means buyers who rely on the property portals are seeing even less of the market than usual,” said Kain.
Recent Black Brick data shows that 71% of the company’s purchases in Q3 2026 have been off market.
Camilla Dell, managing partner of Black Brick, said: “Off-market property sourcing is now critical. So far this year, above £3m, 86% of our acquisitions were off market and above £5m, 100% were off market. In uncertain sales markets, sellers are much more inclined to keep their properties off market rather than risk the listing becoming stale on a portal. Buyers without buyers’ agents will struggle to access the whole market and this is becoming ever more evident as the year goes on.”
