Back in 2021, the property race for space was in full swing. More than 1.44m homes were sold that year, the highest number since the financial crisis, with buyers spurred on by Covid lockdowns, home working, low mortgage rates and stamp duty discounts to move to a larger home. However, with those trends now over, increasing numbers of people who bought less than five years ago, during the pandemic, are seeking to move. Our analysis reveals that 2021 is the most common year of purchase among those selling their homes in 2025.
While a typical seller has owned their home for around 11 years, of those property owners who have put their properties on the market this year, 5.1% of them bought in 2021.
This phenomenon is particularly noticeable for people selling larger properties in the countryside – for 2025 sellers of detached, semi-detached and terraced houses in rural areas, 2021 was the most common year of purchase.
Although proportionally the numbers of people who bought rural houses during Covid and are now looking to sell is quite small, there has been an uptick. From our data, we can see that there were 10% more rural homes on the market in April 2025 than there were in the same month in 2024. This compares to a 4% year-on-year increase in the numbers of homes for sale across Great Britain as a whole in March.
Most of the increase in people selling rural homes this year has come from those with properties in less affluent parts of the countryside. Of those listing their homes in the 50% least affluent rural areas in the first quarter of this year, 6.4% purchased their homes in 2021.
This suggests that the pandemic purchasers making a U-turn and selling up in the countryside probably comprise slightly younger, less affluent households. It’s possible that they moved to a slightly cheaper area during Covid in order to get a bigger home for their money, but are now looking to sell, listing their homes for £331,000 on average.
Meanwhile, of those selling up in the first quarter of this year in the 50% most affluent rural areas, 4.2% bought their properties in 2021. They are putting their homes on the market for an average of £522,000. Those who bought in more expensive areas are likely to have already had more equity to put down, sheltering them from higher mortgage rates as they approach the end of their five-year fix.
Given how many people bought properties in 2021, these pandemic purchasers are likely to be a force in the housing market for some time. However, not all are set to make money on their sale. Subdued house price growth since late 2022 is reflected in owners being less confident about the price they can achieve relative to what they originally paid.
Of the people nationally selling their homes this year who bought in 2021, 88% put them on the market for more than they paid. This compares to 94% of 2025 sellers who bought a decade ago, setting a higher asking price than they paid.
Those in the most expensive areas in southern England are least optimistic about selling the homes they bought in 2021 for more than they paid. In London, just over three quarters (76%) of 2025 sellers set an asking price that was more than they paid, rising slightly to 86% in the South West and 89% in the East of England. These regions have generally seen less price growth over the last five years.
By contrast, 94% of 2025 sellers in the West Midlands and 95% of those in Wales have put their homes on the market for more than they paid in 2021.
However, we expect to see house price growth pick up a bit of pace in the South of England over the next few years, partly due to the fact that these areas saw bigger price falls when mortgage rates rose. As house prices recover and affordability conditions improve, this may encourage a few more moves in these markets, particularly from those who currently potentially face selling at a loss having bought at the peak of the market during the pandemic.
