Prime central London agents are all in consensus that this is a very price-sensitive market. The economic and political climate are creating headwinds yet looking across our core areas of operations, there are plenty of reasons to be positive. Data from our friends at LonRes shows that transaction volumes in Q4 were up 9.6% YOY. This data marries with our experience at Maskells. Indeed our transaction volumes were up around 23% in 2024 compared with 2023. We have seen a very positive start to 2025 – across our offices, viewing numbers are up +15% to date this year vs last year and offer numbers are up +45% in the same period which translates to having agreed more sales in early 2025 than we have seen in a number of years. What is also encouraging is our viewing to offer ratio. Our 10-year average is around 8 viewings per offer. So far this year, our viewing to offer ratio is 6.2 viewings per offer which is showing that there is a high degree of commitment from buyers. There are fewer buyers in the market for sure, but the buyers we source through our wide-reaching marketing and global network of contacts are fully focused and not afraid to commit. The market is often seeing properties go through a process of price adjustments over time, and once at the level the market agrees with, multiple offers come in and the new asking price is exceeded.
Which brings us on to time. In years gone by, particularly in a rising market, sellers could price high and use time as an ally – over time, values will rise to meet an ambitious initial asking price. In this climate, we are seeing very fine margins and if there is much of a gap between asking price and where buyers see value, offers are hard to extract. For a property that has been on the market for some time, often a greater correction in price is needed later. However, when buyers agree on value, we are seeing eager commitment and regular competition. Our sales over the last 6 months show that the average time between a property being exposed to the market at the correct price to elicit offers and an offer accepted; either being fresh to the market, or after a price adjustment, is 39 days. So far in 2025, this time period is just 16 days. When priced correctly, we are seeing robust interest levels.
The prospect of interest rate cuts will of course bring more buyers forward and is helpful for market sentiment. We are seeing a good number of motivated purchasers, and sellers have more clarity on market dynamics. Time is telling us a tale; of course there will be exceptions to the rule but the market is showing robust levels of interest in a short period of time on properties where the market agrees on value. Lag times and regular viewings, but a lack of offers, is a strong suggestion that the gap between asking price and value requires reduction. Properties priced correctly, are seeing excellent levels of engagement and high levels of commitment often with competition between buyers.