Property sales rose in 2025 but more chains also broke

20th January 2026

Property exchanges rose last year but so did fall-throughs and asking price cuts.

Data from  TwentyEA has revealed that the number of exchanges in 2025 nudged towards one million and finished the year at 986,665, 12.6% higher than in 2024.

Both new instructions and sales agreed volumes recorded modest year-on-year growth of 2.1% and 2.3%, respectively.
 

However, fall throughs, price reductions and withdrawn properties were all significantly higher last year.

Fall throughs reached in excess of 300,000 throughout the year – 4.5% higher than 2024. Price changes topped 1,000,000 – an increase of 10.8% and the number of withdrawn properties hit 803,612 – a marked rise of 7.6%.

The findings are part of the company’s latest Property and Homemover Report, which reported falling market share for hybrid and online agents.

‘A strong housing market’

Katy Billany, executive director of TwentyEA said: “H1 25 enjoyed a strong level of transactions, supported by the Stamp Duty concession. At the start of the year, residential buyers still benefited from the temporary higher nil-rate threshold of £250,000, which reverted to £125,000 on 31st March 2025. Meanwhile, first-time buyers saw their nil-rate threshold return to £300,000 from £425,000.

“The conclusion of the Stamp Duty Relief removed a key support for transactions, ultimately slowing activity. We saw significant market softening in the latter part of 2025, driven by reduced consumer confidence ahead of the November Budget.

“This was further reinforced by the announcement of a Mansion Tax on properties valued over £2million, due to take effect in April 2028 which has led to further high-end buyer caution in the premium market. Also, rising second-home council tax rates discouraged buyers from purchasing extra properties, slowing transactions in the top-end and holiday-home market.”