May 2025 UK Premium Property Market Update

May was a very busy month with a couple of Bank Holiday weekends, a trade agreement with the US, a cut to the base rate to its lowest point since March 2023, inflation rising to its highest level in just over a year, the highest month for new listings since August 2020, over 100,000 price reductions, the best month for sales agreed since April 2022 and the best May sales results in four years, plus a new record for house prices according to the Land Registry.

This is what was happening across the whole market, but did the prime market follow suit with similar activity levels?

May was the busiest month for new listings, sales agreed and price reductions above £750,000 over the past five years and there were on average just over 100,000 properties for sale throughout the month and this was the first time this number had been surpassed during the last five years.

There were 15% more properties for sale year-on-year and 8.30% more month-on-month.

New listings were up approx 7.5% both year-on-year and month-on-month.

Sales agreed increased 9.46%year-on-year and 19.65% month-on-month.

All of the above points towards a positive market as we see increased choice for potential purchasers, confident sellers entering the market and buyers matching this confidence with the number of sales being agreed.

It would appear that the bank holidays, higher inflation, war, and continued political and economic uncertainty has not put movers off as the cut to the base rate and lower interest rates boosts confidence. 

However, there has still been some volatility in the market as displayed by the chart below.

As noted above, price reductions were at their highest level above £750,000 over the past five years, increasing 30% on last year and just over 22% more than the previous month.

The number of sellers withdrawing from the market were 15.29% higher compared to a year ago and 17.68% more than a month ago.

Sales falling through were 13-14% up both year-on-year and month-on-month.

A wider choice of properties for sale has heightened competition between sellers and this has meant plenty of price reductions with buyers now holding more bargaining power.

This has then had a knock on effect as price reduced properties are less likely to sell according to Rightmove and if they do sell, take a lot longer to do so and are more likely to have a sale fall-through.

Therefore, this would mean more sellers withdrawing from the market if they do not achieve their desired outcome. 

As of this morning, only 26.19% of properties in the prime market are under offer/SSTC compared to 42.84% across the whole market. 

You would usually expect the whole market to perform stronger than the prime market as there will be a higher propensity to sell, but properties across the whole market are currently 63.57% more likely to find a buyer compared to a property in the prime market.  

According to Hamptons, the average property in England and Wales sold for 99% of its final asking price last month, up from 98.8% in May 2024. 

Just 12.8% of homes were sold for more than 5% below their final asking price, the lowest share since September 2022, just before the mini-budget.

However, the £1m+ market remains the most sensitive to pricing pressures with nearly one in three (32%) sales agreed over £1m were sold for more than 5% less than their final asking price in May, the highest proportion recorded in any May since 2020. 

Although buyer demand is strong as evidenced by sales agreed numbers, higher stock levels mean homes are taking longer to sell with the highest level of properties currently available since October 2013. 

The wider choice of properties available to buyers has meant the average home that went under offer in May had been on the market for 54 days, up from 48 days for homes sold in May 2024.

Just under a third (31%) of homes sold in Great Britain last month went under offer within 30 days, the lowest proportion recorded in any May since 2020. 

Homes sold over £1m recorded the biggest increase in time on market, taking an average of 56 days to sell, 11 days longer than in May 2024.

In conclusion, the premium market is definitely having its ups and downs right now, with the positives being supply entering the market supported by demand, but the negatives are that supply appears to be outstretching demand judging by the number of price reductions, prices eventually being achieved for those that do sell, the length of time to sell, properties withdrawing and sales falling through.

With choice amongst buyers so high the market is very price sensitive, so pricing realistically is fundamental to selling. 

The latest data from UK HPI states there were 190,576 recorded property sales in the UK between October and December 2024 with 10,386 sales at £750,000 or above across England, Scotland, and Wales, plus 184 sales at £500,000 and higher in Northern Ireland.

4,253 of these sales were at or above £1,000,000, 65 were between £5,000,000 and £10,000,000 and 16 sales were at a figure higher than £10,000,000. 

Therefore, whilst market conditions are challenging and agents are having to work very hard to secure a sale, there are lots of opportunities in the market.

Due to the high levels of unsold stock in the prime market, my top tips this month are going to be on how to increase your chances of selling these properties and turning what is a liability into an asset.

The latest Rightmove data shows that homes which attract an enquiry on the first day of marketing are 22% more likely to find a buyer than homes which take more than two weeks to receive their first enquiry. 

1 According to Rightmove, listings with a video tour get 8% more detail views and 6% more enquiries, so make sure to have a video on your listings from the start.

2 37% of buyers will not enquire on a property that does not have a floorplan and having a floorplan increases the number of enquiries by 12%, so make sure you have a floorplan and with all the measurements, plus the overall size as well.

3 Double the amount of detail views by having a featured property and 20% more with a premium listing on Rightmove.

4 Make sure the asking price of your listings is on a minimum or maximum price bracket as this has been found by Rightmove to get 11% more views.

5 Give your listings a fortnightly marketing review as updating the photos and description every couple of weeks can increase detail views by up to 10%.

My last tip is courtesy of fellow newsletter contributor, Elaine Penhaul and the fantastic work her and the team do at Lemon & Lime with regards to home staging.

Research from Lemon & Lime and TwentyEA has found that staged properties are five times more likely to be sold at asking price and 18% above the asking price.

In summary, if you are wanting to get your properties sold and for top dollar, make sure your listings have a floorplan and video, utilise all the Rightmove features at your disposal, price sensibly to increase exposure, review your listings fortnightly to spot any gaps in the marketing and finally, invest in home staging.

Remember, you want your sellers to be in sell mode rather than live mode to achieve the best possible outcome. 

Thank you for reading my latest UK premium property market update and watch out for the next edition in which I will be reviewing how the upper end of the market has performed in the first half of the year.

Simon Gates - Opening The Gates

P.S. Be sure to give the latest episodes of my podcast a listen on Apple or Spotify, including a very special live episode that was recorded last month in London with a live audience. 

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