All but two counties in England saw an upward trend in the number of buyers entering the market in Q1 of 2025, according to research from London lettings and estate agent Benham and Reeves.
Between Q1 2024 and Q1 of this year, the number of homes securing a buyer across England increased at an average quarterly rate of 3.7% per quarter. ‘The increase has been driven greater market stability and improvements to mortgage affordability have helped boost buyer appetites’, the agency said.
The largest uplift was seen across Lincolnshire, where the number of homes securing a buyer increased at an average rate of 6% per quarter. Just slightly behind was Cumbria, at 5.9%, followed by Rutland with 5.5%.
Cheshire (+5.4%), Worcestershire (+5.1%), Essex (+5%), Oxfordshire (+5%), East Riding of Yorkshire (+4.9%), Leicestershire (+4.9%) and Warwickshire (+4.9%) have also seen some of the largest average quarterly growth in buyer levels.
The positive trend was observed almost across the board, with just two counties seeing a decline: the City of London, which saw an average drop of 6.2% per quarter, and Gloucestershire, which dipped by 2.9%. Greater London, however, has seen healthy growth, with buyer activity increasing by 3.6% per quarter on average.
Director of Benham and Reeves Marc von Grundherr commented:
“Stability has been key in tempting buyers back into the fold over the last year and it’s clear that with interest rates stabilising and then falling, the resulting improvements to mortgage affordability has helped to drive the market forward.
“In fact, all but two counties have seen the number of homes securing a buyer trend upwards over the last year and, with interest rates forecast to fall again, we expect buyer activity will only continue to strengthen over the course of the year, which in turn will continue to cultivate house price growth.”
