Buyer demand for new-build homes softened further in the final quarter of 2025 with fewer than one in five properties finding a purchaser as higher borrowing costs and affordability pressures continued to weigh on the market.
New analysis from Property Inspect reveals that across Great Britain 16.8% of new-build listings were marked as sold subject to contract in Q4.
This was down 0.9 percentage points on the previous quarter and 1.8 percentage points on the same period a year earlier, signalling a broad cooling as the year drew to a close.
Demand was weakest in Aberdeen, where just 1.5% of new homes had secured a buyer. Other cities with notably subdued activity included Liverpool (3.6%), Newcastle (4.5%), Swansea (5.8%) and Newport (6.7%).
POCKETS OF RESILIENCE
Newport also registered the sharpest quarterly decline, down 8%, followed by Sheffield (-7.6%), Bristol (-5.2%), Aberdeen (-4.5%), Leicester (-4.3%) and Plymouth (-3.4%). London saw a modest quarterly softening of 0.4%.
Despite the overall slowdown, there were pockets of resilience. Southampton led the market, with 39.7% of new-build stock going under offer, followed by Nottingham (25.6%), Sheffield (25.5%), Portsmouth (24.7%) and Bournemouth (22.9%). Nottingham also recorded the strongest quarterly growth, up 7.5%, with Glasgow up 3.3%, Portsmouth up 3% and Bournemouth edging higher by 0.4%.
AFFORDABILITY PRESSURES
Sián Hemming-Metcalfe, Operations Director at Property Inspect, says: “New-build buyer demand has continued to ease as we closed out Q4, with fewer than one in five homes securing a buyer and momentum softening both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year.
“Ongoing affordability pressures, a higher-for-longer interest rate environment and continued uncertainty around the direction of housing policy have combined to keep many buyers on the sidelines. With new-build homes typically priced at a premium, it’s unsurprising that this part of the market has felt the impact most acutely.”
But she adds: “That said, the outlook is not universally downbeat, and well-presented new-build stock can still generate strong levels of demand across much of the country, even in a more cautious market.
“But homes will not attract buyers by default: they must be constructed and finished to a high quality standard that creates confidence in buyers.”
