When the recession had a tight grip on the housing market a few years ago, it was the luxury home sales that were helping the overall average house price that so many look to for guidance as to the health of the market. London had luxury properties that were selling easily and at prices not seen before as investors flocked to the capital and the luxury market to take advantage of the properties for sale. When other areas in the UK were seeing constant declines in sales, London was resistant.

However, factors have come into play to make the London housing market less attractive to globally located buyers. The declining global economic situation has injected caution into investors, as has the increase in taxes on homes costing over £1 million, as well as the Brexit vote.

According to data from the Land Registry, the number of homes sold over the £1 million level amounted to just 552 in August. Back in August of 2014, before higher taxes for luxury property were put into effect, there were 1,473 luxury home sales during the same month.

Meanwhile, the current housing market has revealed rising confidence from buyers. First time buyers are actually showing a much stronger demand as they shop and inquire for properties. The UK housing market has shown to be much more resilient than experts had expected after the Brexit vote and in the midst of an uncertain global economy.

Homeowners in turn have taken advantage of the current lending environment and sought out remortgages while interest rates are cheap and historically low. Lenders are even padding deals with attractive incentives to further draw the attention of homeowners.

The expectation of the housing market for the last part of the year may have been pessimistic, but the data is showing that 2016 will turn out much better than anyone had expected.