The Residential Property Market in September 2026: The Numbers
Prices are broadly flat, transaction levels remain respectable and buyer interest is showing tentative signs of improvement. But homes for sale are plentiful, mortgage rates remain elevated and buyers have considerably more negotiating power than they did a few years ago.
For sellers, pricing correctly from the outset matters. For buyers, choice has returned.
And for both, the growing problem is not necessarily agreeing a transaction. It is getting that transaction through to completion.
Here is what the latest published data actually tells us.
The data
Prices are broadly flat. Nationwide reported on 1 September that the average UK house price stood at £275,465 in August, with annual growth of 1.6 per cent, up from 1.4 per cent in July. On a seasonally adjusted basis prices rose 0.2 per cent over the month. Zoopla, which measures achieved sale prices rather than asking prices, puts the average UK value at £272,800 with annual growth of 0.9 per cent in the year to July, down from 1.3 per cent the previous month.
Sellers are cutting their expectations. Rightmove reported on 17 August that the average asking price of a newly listed home fell 2.0 per cent over the month, a reduction of £7,360, to £364,999. That is the largest August fall since 2018, and asking prices are now 1.0 per cent below the same point last year, the largest annual drop since December 2023. Rightmove has revised its forecast for the year from a 2 per cent rise to somewhere between zero and a 2 per cent fall. London was the weakest region in the month, and the capital now has the greatest choice of homes for sale since 2010.
Stock is building faster than buyer demand. Rightmove records more homes for sale in August than at any equivalent point since 2014. The RICS survey published on 13 August showed new seller instructions recovering from a net balance of minus 23 per cent in June to minus 4 per cent in July, the clearest sign in more than a year that fresh listings are returning. Buyer enquiries were unchanged at minus 28 per cent and agreed sales at minus 30 per cent.
Demand is not absent, however. Zoopla recorded buyer searches 7 per cent above the same period last year, the strongest annual increase in twelve months, and searches rose in every region and country of the United Kingdom for the first time in a year. The East of England was among the strongest, up 8.5 per cent. Agreed sales remain 6 per cent below last year, but the gap is closing. In other words, people are looking. Fewer of them are offering.
Transactions are holding up better than sentiment. HMRC recorded 96,710 residential completions in July on a seasonally adjusted basis, 2 per cent below June and 1 per cent below July 2025. HMRC itself notes that completions occur on average two to four months after an offer is accepted, so these figures describe where the market has been rather than where it is going.
Borrowing costs are the real constraint. The Bank of England held Bank Rate at 3.75 per cent on 30 July, by six votes to three, with all three dissenters preferring an increase to 4 per cent. The next decision is due on 17 September. Mortgage rates remain elevated. Rightmove's mortgage tracker put the average two year fixed rate at 5.09 per cent in August, up from 4.95 per cent the previous month, while Zoopla reported average five year fixed rates at around 4.8 per cent, having been below 4 per cent in January.
That movement matters more than the headline house price figures. Zoopla estimates that a buyer who could afford a £200,000 mortgage at the start of the year can now borrow around £182,000 for the same monthly repayment, a reduction in buying power of 9 per cent. Put another way, the same buyer would need to find an additional £18,200 of deposit to buy the same home without increasing their monthly payment.
Transactions are taking longer than at any point on record. The RICS survey recorded an average of 21.5 weeks from listing to completion in May, the longest duration since that dataset began in 2017.
The Budget question is quieter than it was. The Autumn Budget is confirmed for 28 October. The Government has sought to dampen speculation about major changes to property taxation, which has removed some of the uncertainty that suppressed activity over the summer. Separately, the High Value Council Tax Surcharge announced in the November 2025 Budget remains scheduled to take effect from April 2028, applying to English residential property valued at £2 million or more using 2026 values.
What this means in practice
Choice is the defining feature of this market. Buyers can compare, take their time and negotiate. Sellers cannot rely on scarcity to do the work for them.
But the more revealing statistic is the 21.5 weeks. The difficulty this autumn is not finding a buyer or agreeing a price. It is holding a transaction together long enough to complete it, in longer chains, with tighter affordability and with mortgage offers that have a finite life.
That is where preparation earns its keep.
Ten practical tips for our clients
1. Price to the evidence, not to the average. The Rightmove figure measures what sellers are asking, not what buyers are paying. What matters is what homes like yours in your postcode have actually sold for in the last three months.
2. Secure a mortgage product early and review it later. Most lenders allow you to switch to a better product before completion. Given how sharply fixed rate pricing has moved this year, and the decision due on 17 September, securing something and revisiting it later is the safer position.
3. Work from the rate you will actually be offered. Average rates cover every loan to value band. Lender stress rates for affordability sit well above product rates. Budget against your own figures rather than a headline.
4. Recognise that borrowing power has fallen this year. If you last ran your figures in January, run them again. A 9 per cent reduction in what you can borrow changes which properties are realistically within reach, and it is better to discover that before you offer than after.
5. Get your paperwork together before you list, not after you accept an offer. Title documents, planning permissions and building regulation approvals for any works, FENSA certificates, guarantees, boiler and electrical certificates and, for leasehold property, the management pack. Missing documents are a common and entirely avoidable cause of delay in residential transactions.
6. Order leasehold management packs at the earliest opportunity. Managing agents can take several weeks to respond. Starting that clock late will cost you the timetable.
7. Complete identity and anti-money laundering checks straight away. Your conveyancer must complete the necessary identity and anti-money laundering checks, and delaying them can prevent the transaction progressing.
8. Deal with the source of your deposit early. If any part of your funds is a gift, comes from savings held abroad, from a company, or from the sale of another asset, tell your solicitor at the outset and gather the evidence then. Gifted deposits in particular require documentation from the person making the gift, and that conversation is far easier in week one than in week nine.
9. Never act on a change of bank details. No solicitor will email you to say their account details have changed. If you receive such a message, telephone the office on a number you already hold and verify it. Payment redirection fraud remains the most serious financial risk in a house purchase.
10. Do not build a strategy on Budget speculation. The Government has sought to dampen speculation about major changes to property taxation in the October Budget. That reduces some of the uncertainty that affected the market over the summer, but buyers and sellers should plan around their own circumstances rather than trying to predict fiscal announcements.
How MJP Conveyancing can help
MJP Conveyancing is a residential property practice based in Norwich, acting for clients throughout England and Wales. We hold the Law Society Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation.
In a market where the average transaction now takes more than twenty weeks from listing to completion, how a firm is organised matters more than it used to.
- We work in teams rather than single case handlers. Your transaction does not stop because one person is unavailable, on leave or unwell. There is always someone who can progress the file.
- We invest in technology to keep matters moving. Clients have online access to their file, live updates and a property logbook holding their documents for as long as they need them. You are not waiting for a weekly telephone call to find out where things stand.
- We front load the work. We open files, verify identity and address source of funds requirements early, so that avoidable delays do not appear halfway through.
- We quote transparently. Our online calculator sets out fees and disbursements clearly, including the Stamp Duty position, so you can see from the outset what you are likely to pay.
- We advise, we do not simply process. Gifted deposits, joint borrower sole proprietor arrangements, unregistered title, defective leases and planning irregularities all need judgment rather than a template.
Talk to us
If you are planning to buy, sell, remortgage or transfer equity this autumn, we would be pleased to help.
Website: www.mjpconveyancing.com Telephone: 01603 877066 or 01603 877067 Email: onboarding@mjpconveyancing.com Office: 69–75 Thorpe Road, Norwich, Norfolk, NR1 1UA
This article is published for general information only and reflects market data published up to 8 September 2026. It does not constitute legal or financial advice and should not be relied upon as such. MJP Conveyancing Limited is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Sources: Nationwide House Price Index, August 2026 (published 1 September 2026); Rightmove House Price Index, August 2026 (published 17 August 2026), including the Rightmove mortgage tracker sourced from Podium Solutions; Zoopla House Price Index, August 2026 (published 27 August 2026); RICS UK Residential Market Survey, July 2026 (published 13 August 2026) and May 2026 (published 10 June 2026); HMRC Monthly Property Transactions Statistics, July 2026 (published 28 August 2026); Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee decision, 30 July 2026; HM Treasury Autumn Budget date confirmation; HM Treasury Autumn Budget 2025 measures.
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