Rightmove says the average asking price of a newly-listed home coming to the market for sale has dropped 2.0% in just one month.

Prices usually fall in August, but the portal says this is a much larger August price drop than the ten-year average of -1.3%, and the largest since 2018. 

And to cap it all, the portal has now downgraded its price prediction for 2026 as a whole. Instead of a 2% rise, it says prices will stagnate or could even fall 2% on average.

Its latest report, out today, notes that the number of available homes for sale is at a 12-year high for this time of year. 

When combined with the traditionally quiet summer holiday period, this has led to lower price expectations from sellers who have decided to come to market at this time of year, despite the lower volume of active buyers. 

The average asking price for a home is now 1.0% lower than at this time last year, the largest annual drop in prices since December 2023.

“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’ explains Rightmove property expert Colleen Babcock.

“Rightmove analysis shows that those who price realistically are statistically proven to be giving themselves the strongest chance of finding a buyer and successfully completing a move. 

“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.”

Although buying activity is still around 10% below last year’s level, Rightmove has recorded a mini bounce of +5% in buyer demand since Andy Burnham came to power on July 20. 

Comparatively, last summer saw a drop of 2% over the same period. 

A Rightmove statement says: “The new Prime Minster has brought a general boost to optimism and has ruled out property tax changes in October’s Budget, meaning buyers have fewer reasons to wait around and see what happens. 

“While it is still early days, it gives some encouragement that after a subdued summer, where several heatwaves and the World Cup provided added distractions, the market could see a busier than usual Autumn. 

“Elevated mortgage rates do continue to stretch buyers, with Rightmove’s daily mortgage tracker showing that the average two-year fixed mortgage rate is now 5.09%, up from 4.92% last month. 

“However, there are signs that there is room for some downwards movement in rates over the coming weeks. 

“The changing picture for mortgage rates, alongside geopolitical uncertainty and the new Chancellor’s first Budget in October,  highlights how uncertain the market is right now.“

“Consequently, Rightmove downgrades its price forecast for 2026 from +2% to a change of between 0 and -2% in average new seller asking prices over the year as a whole.”