There was a 17% increase in the number of residential property sales agreed in 2024, totalling 1.24 million up from 1.06 million in 2023, data from a market analyst found.
The TwentyCi Property and Homemover report said although challenges around interest rates and mortgage availability persisted over the year, the desire to be a homeowner and adjustment to affordability expectations “delivered a market that demonstrates both resilience and renewed momentum”.
The firm said a number of transactions also would have been influenced by homeowners being “forced” to downsize or switch to the rental market as an affordability measure.
There were 9% more properties exchanged in 2024 than there were the year prior, amounting to 876,891, which TwentyCi said reflected the trend of sales agreed.
It added that measures to improve and speed up the conveyancing process would be “essential to close the gap” between agreed sales and exchanges.
The number of new instructions came to 1.69 million in 2024, 8% higher than the previous year. The firm said this put the average at around 425,000 homes per quarter, bringing the market’s activity closer to normal.

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Some 296,204 fall throughs occurred in 2024, a tenth more than in 2023, while there was a 6% increase in price changed and 3% rise in withdrawn transactions.
£12k difference between asking and sold price
The average asking price for residential properties in the UK was £436,000 last year, a £7,000 uptick on 2023.
Sellers achieved 97.1% of their initial asking price, which was in line with the previous year. However, the firm noted that buyers who sold in 2024 would have achieved a higher price than if they sold in 2023.
This would have been particularly true for flats and terraced houses, but conversely, detached and semi-detached homes would have achieved less in relation to the asking in 2024 than in 2023.
TwentyCi said with the average UK property instruction price of £407,000 in 2024, this equated to a realised sale price of £395,000 – a £12,000 difference.
Rental market under ‘duress’
TwentyCi said there was a “continuation of the significant duress” the rental sector had been under in 2024, citing stock shortages, high demand and rising rental costs.
New instructions were just 0.7% higher than the year before and remained 22% lower than in 2016.
There was a 6% rise in lets agreed and 3% lift in lets.
The average rental asking price in the UK was £1,872 a month, £70 more a month than in 2023 and £520 extra each month since Q4 2019.
The firm said demand was still outstripping supply, which was the main reason for rental rates rising. It also pointed to tax and regulatory changes regarding second homes, leading to landlords exiting the market and further causing stock availability problems.
The report said: “Those landlords weathering the storm are passing on high interest rates and energy costs to their tenants through rent increases.”
More choice for buyers
TwentyCi said the volume of property stock available was “crucial to maintaining the health and vitality of the residential property sector” and by the end of the year, there were almost 605,000 homes on the market to choose from. This was 47,000 higher or 8.3% more than the last year.
It said: “This greater choice is positive news for purchasers. However, it presents a disadvantage for sellers as heightened competition typically exerts downward pressure on prices, assuming all other factors remain constant.”
There was an increase in supply across all property price bands, but this was concentrated among higher-priced homes with 12.5% additional properties worth £1m or more.
Just 256,000 rental homes were available by the end of 2024, a decrease of 50,500 properties or a 16.5% fall. TwentyCi said this “acute” lack of availability would drive rental prices up further.
Colin Bradshaw, CEO of TwentyCi, said: “The sales market remains robust and buoyant despite the heavy economic weather. By contrast, the rental sector remains under stress. We are already seeing stock reductions of 16.5% year-on-year in the lettings sector and this is before the Renters’ Rights Bill has even become law.
“It will be interesting to see how quickly the stated government aims of increasing housing supply will manifest given all the known supply chain issues and workforce considerations.”
He added: “There are also significant calls for buying and selling reform which are now taking shape. Both factors will impact prices if the stock increases and transactions become easier, the critical questions are by how much and moreover, when?”