Buyer demand across London’s prime property market cooled during the third quarter of 2026, although several central London locations bucked the wider trend.
The latest Prime London Demand Index from Benham and Reeves shows demand for properties priced between £2 million and £10 million fell by 1.3 percentage points quarter-on-quarter to 13.2%.
The index measures demand by calculating the proportion of homes listed for sale that have already been sold subject to contract.
By contrast, demand in the super-prime market for homes priced at £10 million or more increased by 0.7 percentage points to 4.3%.
FAMILY MARKETS LEAD
Clapham recorded the highest level of prime demand, with 42.7% of homes securing a buyer, followed by Wandsworth at 41.5% and Islington at 37.2%.
Chiswick recorded demand of 31.3%, while Richmond, Putney, Maida Vale and Wimbledon all saw more than a quarter of listed prime homes find buyers.
However, momentum shifted towards central London during the quarter. Fitzrovia posted the strongest increase at 5.4 percentage points, followed by Islington at 4.8 points and Canary Wharf at 4.5 points.
Demand also increased in Maida Vale, Hampstead, Mayfair, Pimlico, Marylebone and Knightsbridge.
SUPER-PRIME DEMAND RISES
Pimlico recorded the highest level of super-prime demand at 50%, followed by Maida Vale at 14.3% and Knightsbridge at 8.8%.
Mayfair saw the strongest quarterly improvement, with demand rising by 5.1 percentage points. Notting Hill, Victoria, Belgravia, Kensington and Knightsbridge also recorded increases.
Marc von Grundherr (main picture, inset), Director of Benham and Reeves, says: “Prime London demand has cooled slightly following the stronger performance seen during the first half of the year, but there remain some very clear pockets of strength across the capital’s most desirable neighbourhoods.
“The super-prime market has also strengthened despite the wider quarterly cooling and, while activity at this end of the market can naturally be more muted, it demonstrates that buyers remain active when the right opportunities become available.
“Prime London remains a highly fragmented market and the picture today is one of buyers becoming increasingly selective, rather than any widespread withdrawal in demand.”
