New instructions for homes worth £5 million or more in prime London were 32.5% higher in September than a year earlier, while sales in the same bracket fell 12.5%, according to LonRes. More owners are choosing to sell at the top of the market, and fewer buyers are committing.
LonRes's head of research, Nick Gregori, put it plainly: "The £5 million-plus market continues to be most impacted by uncertainty and weaker sentiment." For a seller, the figures say less about whether to sell than about how.
The September figures
Across prime London as a whole, LonRes recorded the quietest September for sales since 2016, with transactions 16.8% lower than a year earlier. Achieved prices were 7.1% lower than a year before and 8.2% below their pre-pandemic level, and homes sold in September did so at an average of 10.1% below their original asking price. Withdrawals, homes taken off the market unsold, were 15.8% higher than a year earlier.
Above £5 million the picture is sharper. Sales across the third quarter were 9.3% lower than a year earlier and 15.9% below the average of the previous decade, and price reductions were 88.8% above their long-term average. In LonRes's words, super-prime sales are "impacted by news and speculation, resulting in a stop-start market".
Not every measure points down. New instructions across all of prime London fell 13.2% on the year in September, though they remained 23.8% above the pre-pandemic September average, and the number of homes available for sale was 3.1% lower than a year earlier.
Time on the market has a price
The clearest finding for sellers concerns time. In the third quarter, homes that sold within three months achieved prices on average 3.8% below their initial asking price. Homes on the market for six to twelve months needed an average reduction of 11.1%.
Some of that gap reflects the homes themselves: a house that sells quickly is often one that was priced correctly from the start. But the pattern is consistent with what we see in practice. A buyer at this level is usually comparing a small number of homes, knows how long each has been listed, and treats a long listing as an invitation to negotiate.
What buyers are still paying for
Demand has not disappeared; it has become selective. Knight Frank's head of prime central London developments, Rupert des Forges, reports "sustained demand from buyers for larger, turnkey homes in prime central London". Large homes are scarce: Knight Frank's Residence Report found that fewer than 3% of completed homes in Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea exceed 200 square metres, and Westminster's City Plan states that no new homes in the borough will exceed 200 square metres of gross internal area, except where necessary to protect a heritage asset.
For an owner of a large house, that scarcity is a genuine advantage, but only if the home is ready to be bought as it is. A buyer paying above £5 million who faces a year of works will price the works, the time and the risk into the offer.
Preparing a sale with the Budget days away
The Budget is on Wednesday 28 October. Asked what the market hopes for, Nick Gregori said: "the best that can be hoped for is no further damaging changes." Owners of homes worth £2 million or more already know that the High Value Council Tax Surcharge is due from April 2028, which we covered in an earlier article; any new measure should be read against the date a sale is likely to complete.
- Price for the first three months. On LonRes's figures, the discount needed roughly triples for homes that sit for six months or more.
- Present the home as finished. Turnkey homes are what buyers say they want; resolving visible works, condition reports and paperwork before launch narrows the room for negotiation.
- Decide on visibility. At this level, a discreet launch to a short list of buyers can protect a home from the stale-listing effect, though it narrows the audience; the right choice depends on the home and the owner's timetable.
Dolce Vita handles sales and lettings across the UK from Mayfair, and helps clients buy abroad through partner agencies. If you are weighing a sale this winter or in the spring, Request a valuation; we acknowledge the same working day and return a written valuation within 24 to 48 hours.
Hanane Dawson, Founder
Sources: LonRes, prime London sales figures for September 2026 and the third quarter of 2026 (via Property Industry Eye and The National, 22 October 2026), including comments by Nick Gregori. Knight Frank, The Residence Report, and comment by Rupert des Forges (via The National, 22 October 2026). Westminster City Council, City Plan 2019 to 2040, Policy 8 (via WA Insight planning policy map). HM Treasury, "High Value Council Tax Surcharge" policy paper (gov.uk, 26 November 2025).