London homeowner profits halved since 2016 as house prices fall
In 2016, Londoners could typically expect to double their money when selling their home, but that is no longer the case.
London homeowners, often overwhelmed by headlines about rising house prices and declining affordability, tend to expect huge profits when selling their properties.
However, the latest data from Hamptons suggests that the days of dramatic house price growth are behind us, with London sellers in 2024 making less than half the percentage profit compared to those who moved in 2016.
Less than ten years ago, in 2016, London sellers were seeing their profits double, with an average return of 100 percent, equating to £243,000 in cash gains.
By 2024, this profit had decreased to an average of 44 percent, or £172,400.
For the first time since at least 2015, London sellers saw their average profit drop below £200,000. They are now just as likely to sell at a loss as sellers in the North East. Nationwide, the amount of money sellers make from their homes has been declining since the market peaked in 2022. In 2024, the average household in England and Wales sold their home for £91,820 more than they paid, having owned it for an average of 8.9 years.
This amount has decreased by £10,830 from 2023 and is down from a high of £112,930 in 2022, when rapid house price growth pushed gross gains (before costs) into six figures for the first time.
Despite lower price gains last year, 91 percent of households nationwide still made a profit when selling their homes.
