London sellers take home over £30bn in gross profit while seller gains decline
London home sellers made a total gross profit of £30.96bn last year.
However, weaker price growth meant that last year marked the first time since 2015 that London sellers made a gross gain less than £200k, Hamptons estate agents said.
The average London seller sold their home for £197,730 more than they paid for it an average of 9.1 years ago. This fell from £207,370 in 2020 and a peak of £243,050 in 2016.
Seller gains in London have been falling since 2016, according to the estate agents.
A ‘race for space’ has seen weaker returns for flat sellers while the average gross gain of someone selling a detached home rose to £151,840.
The average gain for flat owners selling their property in England and Wales fell to £54,690 in 2021.
However, 16 per cent of London flat sellers were forced to sell at a loss.
Aneisha Beveridge, Hampton’s head of research, said: “Soaring house price growth over the last 18 months has driven up the amount of money homeowners have made.
But while owners of larger properties have benefitted from buyers looking for more space, flat owners have seen weaker returns.”
Home owners in Barking and Dagenham saw the biggest percentage gain anywhere in the country. The average seller in the borough sold their home for 76 per cent more than their purchase price.