In 164 BCE, a guerrilla resistance fighter called Judah Maccabee led a force in revolt against the Seleucid Empire that wished to force Greek customs on the Jews they lorded over. He drove his enemy’s forces from Jerusalem, and he purified and rededicated the defiled Temple of Jerusalem on the 25th day of Kislev. It was a moment that changed the fate of the oppressed Jews in that region and set his people on a road to independence.
It is that act of dedication – that act of Chanukah – that the Jewish people celebrate at this time every year; Chanukah, or Hannukah, or Hanukkah – an eight day celebration, our Festival of Lights that begins with the lighting of the nine-candled Menorah.
The reason it lasts eight days is because of the miracle that took place on that 25th day of Kislev in 164 BCE. When the Maccabees reached the Temple, they found only one container of ritual olive oil that had not been profaned – enough to keep the Temple’s Menorah burning for just a single day – and yet, it burned for eight, enough time for new sacred oil to be pressed and made ready.
This year, the 25th day of Kislev falls on Sunday, December 14. The first day of Chanukah.
Every year around this time, as the evenings draw in, Edgware’s shopfronts and homes glow with lights: the Christian lights we see throughout the season, the Menorah of the Jewish Chanukah, Buddhists lighting candles for Bodhi Day last week, Hindus celebrating Diwali earlier in the autumn, or marking Pancha Ganapati in late December; even the festive lights put up by those locally who share none of these faiths but yet join in the celebrations with their neighbours as part of the community.
As I see our community quite literally light up in this way, I am always reminded why this corner of North London means so much to me.
We’re a community of many cultures, many stories, and – quite fittingly for Chanukah – many lights.
This year, more than most, the story of Chanukah feels especially resonant.
That tiny jar of oil, barely enough to last one night and yet miraculously it burned for eight. A small flame that should not have withstood… but somehow it did.
In many ways, that has been the story of the 2025 property market.
This past year has been one of the trickiest I’ve seen in my decades of working in North London property.
Buyers were tentative, and even those who were willing were clobbered by affordability concerns as inflation remained stubborn, keeping interest rates and mortgage rates high. Sellers were cautious and, in the second half of the year, nervous, as worries about pending tax changes compelled many to hit the pause button on their plans to move home.
Confidence in the market flickered like a candle in a draught, and as we waited for the Budget announcements to land on November 26 – whether for good or ill – we wondered if the flame of market expectation would hang on.
And somehow – through resilience, grit, and no small amount of optimism – the local market here in Edgware has kept going.
Transactions did not grind to a halt. Families still found ways to make it happen. Downsizers still pushed on with their moves. First-time buyers still fought their way onto the ladder.
A single day’s oil stretched, and as we reflect on the year that has passed – a tough and challenging year that has felt fraught at almost every turn – we can feel proud of the hundreds of times we have helped local people move home this year through our family business.
A Rededication
Chanukah is about the rededication of something precious: the Temple of Jerusalem, restored, purified and reclaimed.
In its way, the property market has recently undergone a similar moment of rededication. Not in a religious sense, but in the sense that we are in the throes, right now, of reclaiming a market that has been stifled. We are seeing:
- More realistic pricing
- More genuine enquiries
- Serious buyers returning
- Confidence stabilising
We’re not back in the boom times, and in many ways, we see that as a good thing. We never have a boom without a bust, and frenzied property markets are never healthy. What we are seeing though, is a market re-centred; a market stripped back to its core, to its fundamentals. A market brought back to clarity and restored to purpose.
If the two years leading into 2025 were chaotic, this year has been the slow lighting of the Menorah, one candle at a time, as the market is restored to a place of peace and forward motion.
Eight Days, Eight Lessons for Today’s Buyers & Sellers
Indulge me, as I borrow the symbolism of eight for a moment longer.
Here’s what 2025 has taught us:
- Resilience matters.
Markets, just like communities, endure tough times. - Small flames grow.
A tiny uptick in confidence can spread quickly. - Faith is not foolish.
Belief is powerful. Believe in our local area – the market here will be just fine. - Take advice and follow it.
When the path is badly lit, follow someone you trust to hold the candle. - Real buyers always exist.
Even when headlines say otherwise. We’ve all read them – but did you know, more people have purchased properties in 2025 than in any year since 2017, save only for 2021 – that outlier of years, post-lockdowns 1 and 2. - Honesty wins.
Overpricing of properties is simply another way of telling untruths, and untruths get found out fast. - Patience pays.
Miracles happen – but most of the time, we need to rely on expertise and process. Work with an expert and trust their process. - Light returns.
Always.
And that final learning, knowing that light always returns, is precisely where we find ourselves now.
A Brighter 2026 on the Horizon
Interest rates are easing. I believe we will see a rate cut next Thursday, December 18 – and markets agree, with chances of a rate cut currently running at 90%.
Inflation is settling. Buyers are waking up, and sellers are coming back into the daylight in droves, following the Budget announcements which – in the end – did not bring any major shocks or market killers, nor indeed bring in any sweeteners. Some pain to be felt by owners of homes above £2 million, some pain to be felt by landlords by way of extra tax on profits, some pain to be felt by perhaps a majority of us here in Edgware as frozen thresholds gradually increase the tax we pay – but only as wages grow, and there is something to be said for that.
It means that the longest nights are behind us, and how fitting, as we come to celebrate a festival of lights that this year takes us through the Winter solstice.
Here in Edgware, over this past fortnight I have witnessed something I haven’t seen for months: momentum.
Not explosive, not speculative – but confident, steady, hopeful momentum. The kind that builds a sustainable market rather than a bubble. And like the Maccabees did, 2,189 years ago, we can see that the light isn’t going to go out after all.
As We Light the Menorah…
This Chanukah, as I strike that first match and watch the flame catch, a tradition that’s carried through generations of my family right here in North London, I will be thinking about how much light matters.
In our homes, in our communities, and yes indeed, even in the property market.
To everyone in our community marking the festival next week, and to everyone simply welcoming a little more brightness into their winter, please accept this blessing:
Chag Chanukah Sameach.
And, equally, Merry Christmas, our friends and neighbours.
May your homes be warm, your tables full, and your year ahead filled with light.