More Choice, More Sales… Yet the Market Gets Tougher
Week 17 confirms something important.
This is not a weak housing market. It is a crowded one.
New listings surged again to 43,421, massively ahead of the long term Week 17 average of 34.5k. That has pushed total available stock to 731,910 homes for sale across the UK, up sharply from 579k three years ago.
And that changes everything.
Buyers now have options. Lots of them. Which means sellers are no longer competing against the market. They are competing against every similar home nearby.
Yet despite that increased competition, demand remains remarkably resilient.
27,674 homes were sold subject to contract last week, comfortably ahead of the long term Week 17 average of 25.1k and the best week for 45 weeks. Year to date, sales agreed are running 4.2% ahead of the same point in 2024, with 421,983 homes sold stc so far in 2026.
So, the UK property market is still moving.
But it is becoming increasingly selective.
13.1% of UK homes reduced their asking price in the last month, almost identical to Week 16. That tells us sellers are still adjusting to market reality. At the same time, 14.6% of homes on the market secured a buyer in the last month, again broadly in line with long term norms.
The underlying pattern has not changed.
Only 53.3% of homes that left estate agents books in April actually sold and completed. The remaining 46.7% came off unsold.
That is the real story of the 2026 market.
There are buyers.
There is activity.
There are deals being done every day.
There is activity.
There are deals being done every day.
But buyers are disciplined, unemotional and value driven.
The homes that are priced correctly, presented properly and launched intelligently are selling.
The ones that are not?
They are simply helping the competition look better value.