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Bloomberg
A record share of Londoners are shunning property portals and opting to sell their homes on their own terms — which are increasingly negotiated over WhatsApp.
Almost a quarter of London homes were sold off-market in the final three months of last year, according to broker Hamptons International. That’s more than double compared to the same period of 2019 — the final quarter before the pandemic — when under-the-table sales claimed 11% of total market share. It is also the highest quarterly figure since Hamptons began recording data in 2007.
The trend is particularly pronounced among Londoners with more expensive offerings. “Tougher conditions have increased the number of £1 million-plus ($1.2 million) homes being marketed quietly,†said David Fell, a senior analyst at Hamptons.
Almost a third of homes sold for £1 million or more were traded off-market in the final three months of last year, the highest quarterly share since 2017. The rise in luxury off-market sales is partly due to a surge in activity at the top of London’s real estate market. New sales of homes priced at £5 million or more were 74% higher in the final quarter of 2022.