Tariffs causing slowdown in global property deals, Savills warns

Uncertainty over the impact of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs has led to a slowdown in global property purchases in recent months as companies “digest” recent events, estate agency group Savills has said.

Conditions are expected to recover over the second half of 2025 as trade policy becomes more certain.

Savills reported a short-term decline in property transactions in its global markets since April, following Mr Trump’s announcement of higher tariff rates on exports from around the world.

Some of these have been significantly rowed back in the past week after the US struck new trade deals with the UK and China, helping to defuse escalating trade tensions.

But uncertainty about future policy decisions and the effect on global trade has weighed on businesses, with recent survey data suggesting that firms have held off big spending plans until the picture becomes clearer.

Savills said total transactions are likely to be flat over the first six months of the year, compared with 2024, because of the impact of tariffs.

But it highlighted a “good start to the year” with a healthier pipeline of potential property purchases than this time last year.

The London-listed group specialises in commercial and residential real estate and also offers consultancy and property management services.

It has offices around the world but makes its biggest revenues in the UK, which topped £1 billion in the region last year.

Savills said the UK market has been doing better than last year, with house-buyers rushing to complete purchases ahead of stamp duty relief being cut from April.

It also reported a surge in interest among investors for offices in most major cities across Europe.

Chief executive Mark Ridley said: “We have had a good start to the year with performance comfortably ahead of the prior year, reflecting progressive recovery in most markets.

“The current macro-level uncertainty is clearly having a near-term impact on transactional activity, as investors and corporates digest the potential effects of recent events.

“However, I am confident that the underlying trajectories for our transactional businesses are substantially improved year on year.”