Mayfair’s residential property market has become polarised, with sales focused on either new homes or unmodernised opportunities; the market reaching the bottom of the cycle with prices forecast to rise; with “sellable supply” at a 10-year low versus record demand: these are the key finding of the latest annual survey Mayfair in Minutes 2026 by leading local specialist Wetherell.
Predicting that the market and prices will rise between 1% to 2.5% in 2026-28, the new survey has analysed Mayfair sales and lettings data using information from LonRes, Wetherell in-house data and local market intelligence, alongside detailed refurbishment and construction costs data supplied by property development consultancy RedBook.
Mayfair: Shift from a three product to polarised two product marketplace
The survey highlights that Mayfair was traditionally a three “home product” marketplace with buyers able to purchase either brand new/newly refurbished, second hand/liveable and unmodernised stock.
However, Wetherell say that over the last five years the Mayfair marketplace has been transformed by three key factors – younger buyers, Stamp Duty rises and investment strategy changes.
Mayfair’s traditional reliance on an older buyer demographic (aged 50-70 yrs) has been replaced by a new generation of international, much younger (28-45 yrs) purchasers who are time poor and prefer dressed, turn-key new or newly refurbished homes.
Introduced in 2023, Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) currently stands at 12% for homes valued above £1.5 million and 17%-19% for overseas/second home buyers. Wetherell say that this has made purchasing homes in Mayfair a long-term (20 year or more) investment. Wetherell add that the majority of buyers in Mayfair are now end users, with far less buy-to-flip investors.
Because of these shifts, Wetherell highlight that the Mayfair market has now become a polarised two “home product” marketplace with most buyers (over 90%) purchasing brand new/newly refurbished homes (the best-in-class priced from £6,000 to £10,000 per square foot), and the remainder acquiring unmodernised stock (for around or under £2,000 per square foot). The unmodernised properties are then refurbished in order benefit from potential significant capital value uplift.
Wetherell observe that this polarisation has pushed the second hand/liveable stock sector of the market into limbo, with private buyers wary of purchasing, feeling the homes are not discounted enough; and also worried that in five years they will need to refurbish the entire property; with the homes also too expensive for developers to remodel. Some second hand/liveable houses now spend up to three years on the market before finally selling, with almost 60% needing a price reduction(s) to close a sale.
Wetherell say that this polarisation is why transactions for second hand Mayfair property were down almost 30% on 2024. In 2025 just 69 second hand homes sold across Mayfair, down from 96 in 2024 and 81 deals in 2023. In the latter months of 2025 this resulted in over 10% of second-hand properties for sale in Mayfair being withdrawn from the market, with “sellable supply” now at a 10-year low.
Wetherell advise that serious vendors of second hand/liveable stock should invest in their homes before listing them for sale, undertaking any refurbishment work required and refreshing the interior design to present their property in immaculate condition. The listing should also be priced sensibly to help generate a successful sale.
Mayfair: A Market At The Base of the Cycle About To Turn
The Wetherell survey reveals that since 2006 the Mayfair and wider Prime Central London property market has had four cycles, with peaks in pricing in 2008-9, 2015-6, 2017-8 and 2022-3, each followed by troughs, driven by global economic conditions and supply and demand fluctuations.
In 2025 the Mayfair residential market was 21% down on its 2014 peak, prices dropping by -3% over the year, with values now averaging £2,005 per square foot for second hand homes.
With “sellable supply” now at a 10-year low against high demand (since the start of 2026 sale viewings are four times higher than the start of 2025) Wetherell believe that the Mayfair market hit the bottom of the current cycle in Q4 2025. The agency expects residential prices in Mayfair to rise between 1% to 2.5% over the next three years. The message from Wetherell is “buy now or regret missing out.”
Mayfair: The Demand For Newly Built & Newly Refurbished Homes
Wetherell reveal that during 2025 91% of the sales in Mayfair were for apartments or penthouses, the balance for houses, with values influenced by four key factors – volume, ceiling heights, build quality and address.
Because buyers are focusing on newly built or newly refurbished stock this led to a rise in sales during 2025 of immaculate condition one and smaller two bed flats, priced between £2 million to £5 million, being sold. During 2025 40.6% of all homes sold in Mayfair were in this price range, up from 29% in 2024.
Wetherell say that apartments in the new developments around Grosvenor Square including No.1 and 20 Grosvenor Square are highly sought after, as are apartments in new build schemes Clarges Mayfair, 60 Curzon Street and One Carrington, the latter two projects both completed and launched during 2025.
60 Curzon Street is now over 70% sold out with £270 million worth of sales (at values averaging c£6,000 per sqft), with the largest purchaser groups being Americans, continental European and domestic UK buyers. One Carrington on Carrington Street has had steady sales interest whilst the highly anticipated £2 billion (GDV) 1 Mayfair by Caudwell has built up a substantial “waiting list” of potential buyers prior to the start of its sales phase which will take place when the development’s first dressed turn-key residence is unveiled.
Superb condition Mayfair one-bed flats, now command a 35% price premium compared to the average PCL one-bed with two-beds having a 48% price premium. Buyers also gravitated towards immaculately presented three-bedroom family flats, priced from £5 million to £10 million, representing 23.2% of all Mayfair home sales. Three-bed Mayfair flats have a 42% price premium compared to the average PCL three bed.
Refurbished house and new/immaculate penthouse sales for values above £10 million represented 10.2% of all sales in 2025. Mayfair penthouses benefit from a 34% price premium compared to other PCL penthouses with houses having a 23% premium.
Sales below £2 million – predominantly bad condition second hand property – contracted during 2025 with just 13% of sales being in the £1 million to £2 million price range.
Examples of dressed turn-key residences currently listed for sale include a £39.5 million 4,665 sqft four-bedroom sub-penthouse in Clarges Mayfair at 82 Piccadilly, a £13 million new build behind retained Edwardian façade 4,393 sqft mansion on Chesterfield Hill and a £10.5 million recently restored 3,410 sqft townhouse on Chesterfield Street.
Mayfair: Who Is Buying?
During 2025, Mayfair accounted for 12% of London’s £5 million plus sales, more than any other district in Prime Central London, making it the most sought after luxury homes address in the UK capital with both UK domestic and international buyers.
Over the last 12 months Wetherell calculate that the Mayfair sales market has been dominated by wealthy buyers from just five countries – the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, America, India and domestic UK buyers.
Wetherell observe that Mayfair has overtaken Knightsbridge as the most popular and fashionable address for Middle East buyers purchasing luxury homes in London. Buyers from the Gulf are now the largest international buyer group in Mayfair by region of origin, with four out of every five Middle Eastern clients now only wanting to live in Mayfair, competing heavily with American and Indian buyers.
Wetherell say that ten years ago, wealthy buyers from the Gulf all wanted to live within five minutes walk of Harrods and purchase luxury apartments in Knightsbridge buildings such as One Hyde Park.
However the luxury housing stock in Knightsbridge has become dated and the district has had virtually no investment over the last decade in the urban fabric. In contrast, Mayfair, with over £4 billion (GDV) of new development, including over £100 million being invested in the public realm, is now seen as shiny, new and the place to live and be seen in London.
Wetherell observe that to draw buyers from the Middle East and Asia away from Knightsbridge billionaire developer John Caudwell has recently appointed Dorchester Collection, who own The Dorchester Hotel, to manage his forthcoming £2 billion (GDV) luxury residential scheme known as 1 Mayfair. The partnership will create the first 7-star residential development in London; Knightsbridge has nothing like this.
Mayfair’s Unmodernised Mansions: A Unique Opportunity
Wetherell highlight that three billionaires have decided to list their trophy Mayfair mansion buildings for sale, the first time in over 30 years that all four have been offered for sale simultaneously. Currently valued as unmodernised stock, each mansion has in recent times been used as offices, but were originally private single family homes.
Grosvenor (the property company of the Duke of Westminster) has listed the Freehold of 26 Upper Brook Street for sale (£25 million; £1,795 per square foot). Formerly the London home of the American Auchincloss family of Jackie Kennedy fame, the Grade II Listed Edwardian mansion, with courtyard garden and mews house, provides almost 13,928 sq.ft. (1,294 sq.m.) of accommodation. If refurbished back into a single family house with offices in the mews, the property could be worth over £55 million upon completion (approaching £4,000 per square foot).
Similarly Reuben Brothers (David and Simon Reuben) have listed for sale a £29.95 million mansion at 139 Piccadilly overlooking Green Park, formerly the London home of Lord Byron and later French banking heiress Baroness Catherine d’Erlanger. Currently priced at £2,048 per square foot, if lavishly converted back into a single luxury residence the Grade II Listed mansion (extended to provide 15,339 sq.ft. of living space) could be worth up to £70 million (over £4,500 per square foot) upon completion.
Finally the private family office of an Asian billionaire family has listed for sale two adjoining freehold Grade II Listed Georgian townhouses at 13 & 14 South Audley Street in Mayfair for £35 million, providing 15,993 sqft (1,479.63 sqm) of mixed-residential and commercial accommodation.
Currently priced at £2,188 per square foot, subject to consents, 14 South Audley Street, could be refurbished into a single luxury five/six bedroom residence with 13 South Audley Street refurbished into a modern lodge, providing a private family home or office alongside additional guest/staff accommodation. If refurbished the properties could be worth up to £65 million, a substantial uplift in asset value.
Wetherell say that the essential “bare bones” of the four mansions – the foundations, load-bearing walls and core infrastructure are all sound. Quoting RedBook data Wetherell observe that in the building contractor sector average project values have fallen 14% year-on-year and new construction orders are down 10% – providing leverage to negotiate advantageous prices for the refurbishment of the properties.
Mayfair’s Luxury Lettings Market
The survey observes that the lack of supply of new build and newly refurbished homes in Mayfair has helped to sustain the luxury lettings market. The new Renters’ Rights Act has caused some professional and private landlords to remove their properties from the market, but the during 2025 the Mayfair lettings market still achieved an average of £78 per square foot, compared to £68 per sqft for the rest of Prime Central London.
Average weekly lettings values in Mayfair during 2025 exceeded the rest of Prime Central London. Two bedroom Mayfair apartments let for £1,617 per week, compared to £1,105 for the rest of PCL, three bedroom flats let for £2,555 per week, compared to £1,997 for PCL and houses let for £5,117, compared to £2,994 for PLC.