Houses in the £2m to £5m range have been significantly outperforming the rest of the market. 

At the start of 2021, new properties coming to the markets fell 15% compared with January 2020 and were 22% lower than the previous five-year average (2015 to 2019) too.

As well as fewer new instructions, properties going under offer dropped in January too. January 2021 saw 5% fewer properties go under offer than in January 2020. But the impact of a strong January market last year is at play here too. Indeed, the number of homes put under offer in January 2021 was higher than in January 2017, 2018 or 2019. Each of the last six months of 2020 recorded an annual increase in properties going under offer. These deals have now progressed to the point of exchange, which means we are beginning to see a rise in sales volumes. The number of homes sold in January 2021 was up 4% on January 2020 and 3% higher than the average number of January sales between 2015 and 2019.

Over the last three months (November to January) achieved prices rose 1.8% compared with the same period a year earlier. Taking January in isolation shows a similar increase, up 1.6% in January 2021 compared with January 2020. Houses continue to see higher annual increases in prices than flats. Flats sold in the last three months (November to January) saw achieved prices rise 0.4% compared with the same period a year earlier, this compares to a 5.2% increase for houses.