Homes for sale at a 12-year high, as househunters fall: Where sellers are struggling most

The property market is teeming with homes for sale, but the number of buyer enquiries has fallen, new data from Rightmove shows.

Sellers face a very crowded market, with the number of homes available for sale remaining at a 12-year high, the property portal said.

This glut of homes on the market is not being matched by buyers, however.

The number of buyers enquiring across the market is 9 per cent lower than this time last year, while sales agreed are also 9 per cent lower annually.

This chimes with figures from Propertymark, a leading membership body for estate agents. It says there has been an average of around two viewings per available property in the summer of 2026, that's down from more than six per property in early 2022.

On average four in every ten homes that come to market fail to find a buyer, according to Rightmove.

This compares to just a quarter of homes failing to sell in 2021, when there were fewer homes for sale and many more buyers on the hunt.

Glut: Around six in 10 of homes listed for sale successfully find a buyer right now, according to Rightmove. It increases to 65 per cent for houses, but decreases to 50 per cent for flats

Much of the new supply and demand mismatch is thought to be due to buyers grappling with higher mortgage rates.

This week, the average five-year fixed rate mortgage hit its highest level since 2023, according to Moneyfacts.

The average two-year fixed mortgage rate is now 5.29 per cent, up from 5.09 per cent last month, and 4.25 per cent before the war in Iran started. 

This means the average monthly payment on a new mortgage is now around £180 more than it was before the war started at the end of February, further stretching buyers. 

Which sellers are having the hardest time of it? 

The London property market continues to limp on with almost six in every ten homes in the capital failing to find a buyer. 

While the chances of selling vary widely across the country, there are also two diverging property markets in the form of flats and houses. 

While roughly one third of all houses for sale manage to secure a buyer only one half of flats reach that same conclusion.

Rightmove says the average newly listed asking price for a flat has fallen by 2 per cent over the past year compared to houses, which have seen newly listed asking prices rise by 0.4 per cent during that time.

In the North West of England, where property prices are lower, only three in every 10 homes doesn't find a buyer compared to almost half in the more expensive South East. 

Local estate agents across the UK continue to point to accurate and competitive initial pricing as being the number one critical factor in securing a sale. 

This is backed up by Rightmove analysis which shows that 74 per cent of homes that have sold so far this year were priced right first time and didn’t need a subsequent asking price reduction.

'Pricing correctly from day one is absolutely vital, particularly in London where buyers have a huge amount of choice and very little patience for homes that look over-ambitious on price,' said Marc von Grundherr, director of Benham and Reeves estate agents.

'Launch too high and you risk wasting the strongest period of buyer interest, only to reduce later once the property has already started to look stale.'

One location where almost all homes seem to find a buyer is Scotland. Nine in ten homes for sale are currently finding a buyer, according to Rightmove, albeit this is largely due to the greatly different buying and selling laws and practices. 

Could there be an autumn bounce? 

There are some tepid signs of the market changing course.  

The average asking price of newly-listed properties for sale rose by 0.7 per cent, or £2,441 this month to £367,440, the first increase to property asking prices since May. 

September’s increase to prices is also larger than the 10-year September average of 0.5 per cent, which is an early sign of the usual Autumn market bounce after a subdued summer. 

September is traditionally a busier period for the housing market as potential movers return from summer holidays and refocus on buying and selling plans for the rest of the year, and so seasonal factors are largely at play for the monthly increase. 

Colleen Babcock, property expert at Rightmove said: 'September’s above-average price rise is a welcome sign of confidence after a particularly subdued summer, but it should be viewed as a modest recovery rather than a major turning point. 

'Property prices have largely underperformed against the long-term average this year, but September is an exception. 

'While buyers and sellers are returning to the market after the summer holidays to potentially fuel an Autumn bounce, sellers face stiff competition from a 12-year high number of other homes for sale. 

'With a large crowd of sellers chasing a smaller number of buyers, realism on pricing or a high-quality finish are absolutely key to attracting a buyer and making a sale.'

Best mortgage rates and how to find them

Mortgage rates have shot up again due to inflation triggered by the conflict with Iran reversing hopes that the Bank of England would cut rates. This means those remortgaging or buying a home face higher costs.

That makes it even more important to search out the best possible rate for you and get good mortgage advice, whether you are a first-time buyer, home owner or buy-to-let landlord.

This is Money's partner L&C can help you with its fee-free mortgage service.

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