Beauchamp Estates’ Wealth Survey revealed the number of sales of London homes over £15 million fell by a quarter and their total sales value dropped by 34% in 2024.

Overall, London’s super-prime residential property market contracted by almost £445 million, hitting a 5-year low says Beauchamp‘s MD Jeremy Gee (pictured).

According to Gee, the super-prime market has been disrupted by a combination of Stamp Duty rises, changes to the Non-Dom regime, the UK General Election and the new Labour Government.

Younger buyers

It has meant London’s prime market is being driven by younger international buyers, aged from their late 20s to mid-40s, who are able to take a longer-term view on investing in the Capital’s real estate.

And those younger buyers, says Gee, prefer dressed “turn-key” homes and purchase either newly built lateral apartments or houses that have had a major refurbishment.

As a result, the market for second-hand luxury homes requiring refurbishment reduced significantly during 2024.

The report also shows that of the 40 deals, 26 were for homes valued between £15 million and £25 million and 14 were for homes valued above £25 million, including two sold for £60 million.

Unlike the previous four years, during 2024 no homes in London were sold for values above £100 million. Around 75% of all £15 million-plus deals during 2024 were cash purchases, up from 70% in 2023 and 60% in 2022.

Last time Donald Trump was in power we saw a significant 20% upturn in wealthy Democrats buying £15 million-plus homes in London.”

American buyers accounted for 25% of all super-prime sales, up from 18% in 2023, the largest buyer group by country of origin, followed by buyers from the Middle East, who accounted for 20% of all sales, up from 18%.

The proportion of super-prime sales to buyers from the UK fell from 12% to 10% between 2023 and 2024. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war led to a dramatic fall in buyers from Eastern Europe(13% to 8%). Western European buyers went from 6% to 5% and buyers from India/South Asia fell from 23% to 20%.

Only buyers from China and Hong Kong grew in number, up from 10% to 12%.

Looking ahead, Gee comments: “Over the next four years the wave of American buyers into London looks set to increase further. Last time Donald Trump was in power we saw a significant 20% upturn in wealthy Democrats buying £15 million-plus homes in London to live out the first Trump administration.

“Since June 2024 onwards we noticed a 30% rise in overseas clients enquiring about suitable homes in the capital that they could purchase, and the largest group of buyers have been Americans.”