The average price tag on a home coming on the market fell by more than £7,000 in August, according to property website Rightmove. The average newly listed asking price dropped by 2.0% or £7,360 month-on-month, marking the biggest August fall since 2018.
Market slowdown and regional divides
Prices typically fall in August, but this drop is much larger than the 10-year average of 1.3%. Across Britain, the average asking price for a home in August is £364,999, which is 1.0% lower than a year earlier – the biggest annual decline since December 2023.
The number of available homes for sale is at a 12-year high for this time of year, and combined with the traditionally quiet summer holiday period, this has led to lower price expectations from sellers. The average figure masks an increasingly divided regional picture: in the North West of England, asking prices are up 1.9% annually, but in London they have fallen by 3.1%.
Rightmove downgrades 2026 forecast
Rightmove has also downgraded its house price forecast for 2026 from a 2% increase to a change of between zero and a 2% fall in average new seller asking prices over the year as a whole. The changing picture for mortgage rates, geopolitical uncertainty, and the Budget in October are creating housing market uncertainty, the website said.
Colleen Babcock, a property expert at Rightmove, said: “This month’s larger-than-usual August price drop is a sign that many sellers are recognising the reality of the market and pricing much more competitively from day one. Buyers have the widest choice of homes for sale at this time of year in more than a decade, so standing out on price for the right reasons is hugely important.”
She added: “One tactic some sellers are using when considering lower offers on their home is to also make a lower offer themselves on their onwards purchase, to see if they can make up the difference.”
Buyer demand and rental trends
Although buying activity is still around 10% below last year’s level, Rightmove said it had seen a “mini bounce” in buyer demand since Andy Burnham became Prime Minister. Ms Babcock added: “The mini Burnham bounce and some renewed general optimism have brought a degree of improvement to the market as a whole in recent weeks. Whether that develops into a more sustained recovery will likely depend on confidence, mortgage rates and the new Chancellor’s first Budget this autumn.”
Marc von Grundherr, director of Benham and Reeves, said: “There’s no denying that London is having a more challenging year than many other parts of the country and affordability is at the heart of it.” He added: “However, I wouldn’t characterise the London market as being in any sort of serious decline. What we’re seeing is a much more price-sensitive market and sellers who acknowledge that are still finding buyers.”
Jeremy Leaf, a north London estate agent, said: “Although asking prices are not selling prices but often reflect owners’, or agents’, aspirational starting points, these figures help demonstrate how difficult it has become to attract genuine buyers.”
Meanwhile, a lettings index from property firm Hamptons for July indicated that some landlords are snapping up properties in the slower sales market. It found that 56% of investor offers in July were at least 10% below the initial asking price – rising to 63% among landlords paying in cash. Some 27% of these lower offers from investors were accepted in July 2026, compared with just 18% in July 2025.
Hamptons also released rental price figures covering Britain. The average monthly rental price for a newly-let home jumped by 1.9% annually in July, marking the fastest pace of rental growth for new lets in 19 months. The average monthly rent on a newly-let home was £1,401.
David Fell, lead analyst at Hamptons, said: “When the market slows, seasoned investors rarely stand on the sidelines for long. With homes taking longer to sell and chains proving fragile, landlords are using their liquidity and chain-free status to maximise their leverage when it comes to agreeing a price.”
He added: “While higher borrowing costs continue to weigh on investment returns, landlords with cash or low levels of borrowing are finding that a slower market is creating opportunities to purchase at significantly lower prices than would have been possible a few years ago.” Mr Fell said of the rental price increases: “Although these hikes may not be as large as in previous peak years, for landlords, the re-emergence of an upward trajectory in rents provides a counterweight to higher borrowing costs.”
Average rental prices per month on newly-let homes and annual change, according to Hamptons: London £2,308 (0.6%), East of England £1,279 (1.9%), South East £1,507 (2.8%), South West £1,317 (3.7%), East Midlands £1,003 (minus 0.9%), West Midlands £1,121 (3.3%), North East £865 (1.7%), North West £1,065 (2.7%), Yorkshire and the Humber £958 (2.4%), Wales £888 (4.0%), Scotland £1,064 (minus 0.2%).
