London duplex snapshot: is the +10.3% movement meaningful?

[jade_details]

Anything renovated seems to go quickly, while properties needing work sit and eventually take cuts. In a small sample of London duplexes marketed from £262,100 to £393,100, I found roughly 10.3% price movement and a median marketing period near 113 days. Condition makes the picture noisy, though.

Before relying on that figure, I’m trying to understand transaction fees. Are buyers negotiating those with sellers, or simply rejecting the listing and moving on when the total cost feels too high?

 

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Buyers may account for fees in their offers, but I doubt the fees themselves are usually the part being bargained over. If renovation and financing already strain the budget, the likely response is a lower bid or no bid at all.

I also would not accept the 10.3% movement as evidence of a healthier market without testing the sample. Compare recent completed prices with the original and final asking prices, then add withdrawn properties and the date of each reduction. If renovated duplexes sell while dated ones remain for around 113 days, the headline change may reflect condition and changing stock rather than broad price growth.

 

[readTheEcho]

What exactly is included under “transaction fees” here—an amount attached to the listing, or the buyer’s separate purchase costs? That distinction matters.

I’d also narrow the geography. London duplexes at £262,100–£393,100 may fall into very different neighbourhood markets. Combining them could turn differences in location and condition into an apparent citywide trend.

 

[makeTheCanvas]

I partly disagree that completed sales alone will settle it, because they are backward-looking and may represent offers agreed under different financing conditions. Compare them with current new-listing volume and note when price cuts occur. A reduction after two weeks signals something different from one after 113 days.

I’d split the sample into renovated, habitable but dated, and substantial-work categories, then record withdrawn stock and seller motivation where known. That should show whether 10.3% is market movement or simply a change in the mix of properties.