The North West overtook London in off-plan flat sales for the first time since 2007, according to the Hamptons Off-Plan Index.
Data showed that in 2024, 63% of new-build flats in the North West were sold off-plan.
Salford led the way, with 80% of new flats sold before completion last year, the highest rate for any local authority.
Nationally, the share of all new homes sold off-plan dropped to 31% in 2024, the lowest since 2012 and down from a peak of 49% in 2016.
For flats, the figure was 50%, down from 73% in 2016.
Houses saw a smaller drop, with 26% sold off-plan in 2024 compared to 35% eight years earlier.
Additionally, research found that other North West cities stayed strong for off-plan sales, with Liverpool seeing 75% of new flats sold off-plan.
Bradford, Selby, Derby, Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole, Doncaster, Rochdale and Gateshead all recorded more than half of flats sold before completion.
Meanwhile, London fell to 55%, down from 59% in 2023 and well below its 2016 high of 81%.
David Fell, lead analyst at Hamptons, said: “Off-plan sales have held up in Northern England which has seen the bulk of house price growth since 2016.
“Investors from across the country, who are a key source of demand for off-plan sales, have continued to buy in these areas to lock in today’s prices for developments which often won’t be finished for years.
“The expectation that prices will be higher tomorrow remains one of the biggest drivers of off-plan sales for both investors and owner-occupiers.”
Fell added: “But nationally, fewer new homes finding a buyer before they’re built has hit housebuilders hard.
“It is unlikely that the level of off-plan sales being agreed is sufficient for the government to get close to its 300,000 homes target, given that housebuilders rely on this forward funding to progress on site.
“While bulk deals with institutional investors have helped, they haven’t replaced demand from smaller landlords.”
He said: “Last November’s rise in the stamp duty surcharge on second homes from 3% to 5% hit many off-plan investor purchases which completed last year but agreed and exchanged in 2023 or even 2022.
“The higher stamp duty surcharge has kept a cap on the number of investor purchases being agreed today, which will almost certainly mean fewer homes being built tomorrow.”
