British property firm Savills (SVS.L) has flagged a slowdown in residential property transactions across its key UK and Middle East markets. The company attributed this caution among buyers and sellers to the ongoing Middle East conflict, which is fuelling uncertainty regarding global interest rates. Despite these concerns, Savills stated it has retained its financial forecasts for 2026. Savills is a British property company whose transactional business provides capital and leasing advisory services to commercial and residential investors and owner-occupiers.
The transactional arm, which stands as Savills’ largest contributor to revenue, is expected to experience delays in deals, with buyers adopting a more cautious approach. The broader Middle East tensions have reverberated through global markets, intensifying worries over potentially higher-for-longer interest rates, elevated energy expenses, and tighter household budgets. These factors collectively exert pressure on the property sector, including house builders, rental agencies, and related service providers. Savills specifically noted, “Within our key UK market… we have seen greater caution among both buyers and sellers since the onset of the Middle East conflict,” adding that performance in its Middle East market, which accounted for approximately 5 per cent of its 2025 underlying profit, had also “slowed materially” during the crisis.
Despite the cautionary outlook, Savills confirmed it is currently trading marginally ahead of its internal expectations for the financial year ending 31 December. The firm projects annual growth in both revenue and profit. In the preceding year, 2025, Savills reported a 6 per cent rise in revenue, with underlying profit before tax increasing by 11.4 per cent. In a move to expand its presence in North America and bolster its capital markets operations, the company also agreed to acquire real estate investment bank Eastdil Secured in March, a deal valued at US$1.1 billion including debt.
