The latest market insight from London’s largest lettings and sales estate agent brand, Foxtons, has revealed which London neighbourhoods are tempting prospective buyers away from their original locations of choice, with Shoreditch topping the table with the most homes sold when the buyer originally registered interest in a different location.
Foxtons analysed internal data looking at the number of homes sold over the last year and the market split between buyers who start their search in a given neighbourhood and stick with it, versus those who begin in one area of the capital then find their ideal home in another. This is something that Foxtons is perfectly placed to help with as it’s 58 offices are all interconnected, allowing agents to show any property registered with any Foxtons office to prospective buyers.
With offices the length and breadth of the capital, no one has a better understanding of London buyers and where they’re heading than Foxtons. As a result, Foxtons is able to track this migration around the London market based on the office where buyers initially register versus the one they finally purchase through.
The research shows that the majority of London homebuyers know where they want to live from the minute they begin their search, with 61% of all buyers that have purchased over the last year doing so within the area where they first began their house hunt.
However, this means that 39% of all homebuyers are being tempted away from their original destination of choice and are making their move to a different part of London – the highest percentage seen over the last five years.
So, which neighbourhood are they heading to instead?
The figures from Foxtons show that over the last year Shoreditch tops the table in this respect, having attracted the highest percentage of buyers who previously registered interest in a different area of the market.
The second most popular destination for homebuyer migration within the M25 is Canary Wharf, followed by Islington, Brixton and Battersea.
Other areas to make the top 10 include Vauxhall & Oval, Willesden Green, Woolwich, Pimlico & Westminster and Stratford.
Interestingly, when it comes to the highest proportion of buyers who decide to stick with their original area of choice, Shoreditch and Canary Wharf top the table once again, with Battersea sitting in third place.
Foxtons CEO, Guy Gittins, commented:
“In the digital age, homebuyers are not only able to see what’s currently for sale in a given area, but they are also able to access a wealth of additional information on everything from school catchment areas, transport links, local amenities, council tax rates and more.
However, there’s no substitute for the expert local knowledge of an established estate agent and when this is combined with the requirements of a buyer and their position within the market, we often find that a buyer’s mind is far from made up.
In fact, 39% of all buyers to have purchased through Foxtons in the last year have eventually opted for a completely different neighbourhood to the one they originally started their house hunt in, which demonstrates the importance of utilising an agent with an in-depth knowledge of the entire London market, not just a particular borough, and who has access to properties across London, not just in one office area.”
Sources and data tables
- Data sourced from Foxtons based on the number of buyers who transact in 2023 within the same office in which they originally registered their interest versus those who ultimately come to buy within a different office location to that in which they began their search.
- Data is based on transactions between January and December 2023 only.
- View full data tables here.
*Foxtons is London’s No.1 estate agency brand based on TwentyCi data, 2023 v 2022 market share and market share growth of New Instructions at a brand level.
*Foxtons is the UK’s fastest growing sales agent in the top 10 agents based on TwentyCi data of market share and market share growth of New Instructions at a brand level 2023 v 2022, growing by 28% year on year. Foxtons is the UK’s fastest growing lettings agent in the top 10 agents based on TwentyCi data of market share and market growth of New Instructions at a brand level 2023 v 2022, growing by over 35% year on year.
