Londoners have been more loyal to their city than at any point in the past decade, as fewer of them are moving to greener pastures, according to a report released in the U.K. from real estate agency Hamptons.
London residents purchased 5.7%—or 57,020—of all homes sold outside the capital in this year—the lowest proportion since 2013 and down from a high of 8.2% in the wake of the pandemic in 2022.
The return to the office, combined with falling house prices in the capital, has underpinned the slowing rate of outmigration, the estate agency said. Pre-pandemic, Londoners bought an average of 70,060 homes outside the capital each year, meaning sales numbers are down around 19% compared to the 2015-19 average.
“The capital’s homeowners haven’t had the housing market on their side in recent years,” Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, said in the report. “This has weighed on their ability to move, driving down the number of people leaving London this year.”
Meanwhile, house prices elsewhere have risen more quickly since Covid pandemic, she noted, so with “a trophy home slipping out of reach, many London homeowners have opted to stay put.”
The exception has been first-time buyers, Beveridge said. They accounted for a record 31% of Londoners purchasing a home outside the capital this year, a figure that has more than doubled since 2013.
“Looking ahead, we expect an uptick in London outmigration numbers next year as the capital’s property market begins to pick up as mortgage rates edge down further,” Beveridge said. “This could encourage a generation of more recent homeowners who have been restrained for a decade by limited or no price growth in the capital to make their move.”
