UK Property Market Reality Check: 45.2% of Sellers Still Fail to Move
Week 25 shows a UK property market that is still functioning well, but one where simply putting a home on the market is no guarantee of selling it.
24.1k homes sold STC last week, compared with the 10-year Week 25 average of 26.1k. That is around 2k fewer sales than would normally be expected for this point in the year. However, year-to-date sales agreed remain 0.8% ahead of 2024, so this is a selective market rather than a stalled one.
Meanwhile, 35.4k new properties came to the market. That was almost exactly in line with the 10-year Week 25 average of 35.3k. The number of homes listed so far in 2026 is identical to the same period last year, 4.7% ahead of 2024 and 12.7% above the pre-pandemic average.
The challenge for sellers is that buyers have plenty of choice. During May, only 14.6% of the homes on estate agents’ books secured a buyer, unchanged from April and below the 2025 monthly average of 15.1%. More significantly, just 54.8% of the homes leaving estate agents’ books in May had exchanged and completed. The remaining 45.2% were withdrawn unsold, with their owners staying put. That means almost one in every two sellers who left the market did so without successfully moving.
House prices nevertheless remain resilient. The average home sold STC in May achieved £349.64 per sq ft, 1.9% higher than May 2025 and 13.2% above May 2021. The UK rental market also remains expensive, with the average UK rent reaching £1,842 per month during Week 25. That compares with a 2026 year-to-date average of £1,753 and a whole of 2025 average of £1,835.
The UK property market is moving, but it is not forgiving. Homes that are priced correctly and marketed properly are selling. Those that are launched optimistically risk becoming part of the 45.2% that quietly disappear from the market without a move.