London Overtakes North East for Home Sale Losses in 2025 Property Shift

In a significant shift for the UK housing market, London has now replaced the North East of England as the region where homeowners are most likely to sell their property for less than they originally paid. This marks a dramatic reversal of a long-standing trend, according to fresh analysis from estate agency firm Hamptons.

A Decade-Long Trend Reversed

The research, which examined Land Registry data across England and Wales, estimates that 14.8% of London sellers in 2025 sold their homes at a loss. This figure is the highest proportion in the study and significantly exceeds the national average of 8.7%. For nearly ten years, the North East held the unwelcome title of the region with the highest probability of loss-making sales. As recently as 2019, almost a third (29.9%) of sellers there faced a loss, compared to just 9.2% in London.

Hamptons attributes the North East's previous struggles to its slow recovery from the 2008 financial crisis. However, robust price growth in recent years has bolstered returns for sellers in northern regions. In 2025, the proportion of loss-making sales in the North East fell to 13.9%, now placing it second behind the capital.

Southern Flats and Northern Gains Drive Change

This "reversal of fortunes" between North and South has been largely driven by sellers of flats in London, the report states. Meanwhile, sustained house price growth across the North of England over the past decade means sellers there are now seeing proportionally higher gains than those in the South.

Nationally, the average homeowner selling in 2025 across England and Wales achieved a gross profit of £91,260 more than they paid. This represents a value increase of 41.0% over a typical ownership period of nine years, though it is £570 less than the 2024 average profit of £91,830.

The regional picture for profits is starkly different. In 2025, the average seller in the North West saw a 45.4% increase in their home's value during ownership. Outside London, no southern region recorded average gains above 40%. Even in London, where loss-making sales are rising, the average seller still achieved a price £172,510 (44.6%) above their original purchase price, though much of this stems from historic growth.

Expert Outlook: A Challenging Future for Some

Aneisha Beveridge, Head of Research at Hamptons, commented on the findings. "In London, upward house price growth is no longer the one-way bet it once seemed," she said. "In some cases, even owners who bought a decade ago still face getting back less than they paid – something that would have been almost unthinkable in the heady days of 2015."

Ms Beveridge warned that over the next few years, more sellers are likely to have missed London's 2012-2016 price boom, having bought near the market peak. "That could make trading up increasingly challenging," she added.

She noted that rising gains in the North have helped offset shrinking returns in the South nationally. "With much of the recent price growth in the North and Midlands now baked in, it’s possible that seller gains there could outpace those in the South – in both cash and percentage terms – for the foreseeable future," Beveridge stated.

The report concludes that if the financial numbers do not add up, and sellers risk losing part of their original deposit, many will choose to stay put, potentially locking some homeowners out of the market.

Proportion of Sellers Making a Loss in 2025: