Post-Budget bounce triggers unseasonal December market activity

Strutt & Parker has reported a 173% surge in new property launches between 26 November – the day of the Autumn Budget – and Friday 5 December, compared with the same period in 2024.

The estate agency’s analysis of activity in the week immediately after the much-anticipated Budget underscores how significantly the market had been paused by months of political and economic uncertainty.

The data suggests that sellers who had been holding off listing their homes were prompted into action once the Chancellor’s fiscal plans were confirmed, releasing a wave of pent-up supply into what is normally a quiet period for the housing market.

Claire Reynolds, UK head of sales at Strutt & Parker, commented: “It’s no secret that the delay to the Autumn Budget this year, and the relentless kite-flying by the government that accompanied it, had a dampening effect on the property market, more acutely felt in the discretionary higher-end.

“Our research identifies a significant uplift in activity immediately following the budget, indicating not only the importance of clarity and certainty in driving decision making, but also that the policies announced have done little to deter vendors from entering the market. These markers bode well for the housing market in 2026.”

Strutt & Parker’s analysis of its data identified an uplift in the total value of homes to the market during this 10 day period. The combined value of homes launched to the market by the estate agency is almost threefold the total value launched in the same period in 2024.

The average value launched outside London by Strutt & Parker during this period was £1.2m, while within prime central London this value was in excess of £4m, both exceeding the values of the same period last year.

Matt Henderson, residential research lead at Strutt & Parker, said: “The housing market has been subject to numerous economic and political turbulences over recent years which have increasingly reduced the seasonality of the market as buyers and sellers respond directly to periods of uncertainty and unclarity.

“With interest rates anticipated to fall next week, and with the Budget in the rear-view mirror, our data points towards a renewed confidence in transacting with many electing an ‘act now’ approach rather than waiting for the spring.”