Business · Housing marketBritain’s Home Sellers Make the Most Asking-Price Cuts in 15 YearsAired October 19, 2026 at 4:27 AM UTCWritten October 19, 2026 at 4:30 AM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:07Sellers in Britain cut asking prices on more than 3,000 homes a day.0:11Among homes being reduced, the average cut approaches 7% or nearly £21,000 on a0:16typically valued home.0:17Buyers have more choice, but mortgage costs are squeezing their budgets.0:20How much negotiating power does that choice really give buyers who still have to0:24finance a move?0:25September's average daily count represents the largest monthly number of asking0:29price reductions in 15 years.0:31Sellers are retreating from their advertised prices while competing with the biggest0:35seasonal stock of available homes in 12 years.0:37The nearly 7% average applies to homes whose asking prices were cut.0:41It measures how far those sellers lowered their expectations.0:45What buyers eventually pay will depend on the offers sellers accept.0:4934% of listed homes had a reduction, below the 36% peak in September 2023.0:55A larger pool of homes can produce more reductions even when a smaller proportion of0:59listings has been reduced.1:00September also commonly brings the most asking price cuts as sellers try to finish1:04moving before year-end.1:06That seasonal rush forms part of the backdrop to this 15-year high.1:09One seller trying to sell his late father's home in South Wales described numerous1:12competing properties and few buyers.1:15Sellers of leasehold homes in England also described extra difficulties.1:18An unsold home can leave moving plans and carrying costs unresolved.1:22Homes available for sale rose 5% from a year earlier, while sales agreed fell 9%.1:28Buyers could choose from more properties, but fewer sellers secured agreements.1:31Those agreements still have to make it through the legal process.1:34A quarter of September's newly listed homes had already been marketed during the1:38preceding year.1:39Six in 10 of those returning properties came back with a lower asking price.1:43Sellers were resetting their expectations as well as trying again.1:47Agents averaged 56 available homes in January, 62 in April, and 63 in May.1:52That reached 65 in June and stayed there through September.1:55Buyer enquiries were 9% lower than a year earlier.1:58New listings were 3% below a year earlier and unchanged month to month.2:02Stock can still build when homes already advertised take longer to find buyers.2:06Homes with a price reduction typically took 119 days to find a buyer.2:10Homes marketed at one price took 39 days.2:13That compares the two groups' experience.2:15It doesn't show that making a cut caused the longer wait.2:18Some homes may already have been overpriced or difficult to sell before their owners2:22cut the price.2:23Reduced homes were also described as half as likely to find a buyer within three2:26months.2:27Finding that buyer still leaves the legal work ahead.2:29Colleen Babcock says a long wait followed by a reduction can make buyers start2:34asking questions, even when the property has nothing wrong with it.2:37With so many alternatives available, she says first impressions matter.2:41Tara Lorenz says sellers attach emotional value to money and time invested in their2:45homes, while buyers compare alternatives within a budget.2:49Blackpool agent Craig Webster says the initial marketing period offers the strongest2:53opportunity to attract active buyers.2:55Devon surveyor Katie Griffin warns that correcting a price late can leave sellers2:59accepting less than their revised asking price.3:02Andrew Bose says owners may still retain gains made since purchase.3:05A reduction alone doesn't reveal their profit or loss.3:08New listing asking prices averaged £378,304 in May.3:13They fell to £376,191 in June, then3:18£372,359 in July.3:21August brought another fall to £364,999.3:27September recovered to £367,440.3:31That September increase was 0.7%, or £2,441.3:36It was the first monthly rise since May, exceeding the usual September increase of3:400.5%.3:41Prices remained lower than a year earlier.3:43The average was also 2.3% below the start of summer.3:47Newly arriving sellers can raise their opening prices while owners of older listings3:51cut theirs.3:52These measures follow different properties at different stages of marketing.3:55The September Index measured 125,207 asking prices.4:00Those homes were marketed from August 9th through September 12th.4:03Its sample covers newly advertised homes, a different group from September's price4:07reductions.4:08The first-time buyer sector averaged £225,199, excluding Inner4:14London.4:15That was down 0.1% monthly and 0.9% annually.4:19The two higher sectors both rose 0.9% monthly.4:22Across the market, 61% of homes were finding a buyer, compared with 74% in4:282021's high-demand market.4:30Among homes that had sold during 2026, 74% hadn't needed an asking price reduction.4:36The average two-year fixed mortgage rate stood at 5.29% in the September release.4:41It had been 5.09% the previous month and 4.25% before the Iran war began.4:47The estimated average new mortgage payment was around £180 a month higher than4:52before the war.4:53Higher financing costs and uncertainty were eating into what buyers could offer,4:57including sellers who needed a mortgage for their next home.5:00By October 5th, five-year fixed deals averaged 6%, their highest since September5:052023.5:07Two-year fixes averaged 5.98%, their highest since December that year.5:12Those are dated figures rather than today's mortgage quotes.5:15Fixed mortgage products below 5% fell from 1,494 at the start of September to 9% by5:21October 5th.5:22That's a reported 99% decline in those cheaper fixed-rate options.5:26Barclays raised selected fixed rates four times during September.5:30HSBC, Lloyds Nationwide, NatWest, Santander, and TSB each made three rounds of5:35increases.5:35Variable deals below 5% remained broadly available, but those rates can change.5:40Existing borrowers keep their contracted fixed rate until it expires.5:44Some lenders let them secure a replacement three months ahead, others six.5:48Just over 5 million homeowners were forecast to face higher monthly repayments by5:53the end of 2028.5:54Scotland found buyers for 74% of homes listed from April through June.5:59within three months.6:00London's figure was 30% for the same listing cohort and window.6:04Those outcomes track buyer agreements, with legal completion still to follow.6:08Zoopla research executive Richard Donnell links Scotland's faster market partly to6:12its home report system, which supplies a valuation before marketing.6:16He also points to higher prices, stamp duty, and owners under less pressure to sell6:20in southern England.6:21Some of those owners are landlords who can wait.6:24Scotland's different process gives buyers more information early, but local prices6:28and the willingness to sell also shape how quickly homes find buyers.6:32A Scottish home report normally combines a chartered surveyor's survey and6:35valuation, a property questionnaire covering 16 categories, and an energy report.6:40Buyers receive information about repairs and running costs alongside an opinion of6:44the home's value.6:46Buyers can normally request the report and receive it within nine days, subject to6:50permitted exceptions.6:51Some new build, newly converted, dual-use and seasonal homes are exempt, alongside6:56properties continuously marketed since before December 1st, 2008.7:00Most Scottish homes invite offers over or around a minimum through blind bidding.7:04Some have fixed prices.7:05The amount advertised can therefore differ from what the successful buyer ultimately7:10pays.7:10A separate measure of overall buyer-finding success puts Scotland at 91%, the7:15Northwest at 71, the Southeast at 56%, and London at 42.7:21It uses a different timetable from the three-month comparison.7:24Buyers have more alternatives and more room to negotiate, but the mortgage payment7:28still limits their offer.7:30Sellers can compete by lowering expectations, yet a reduction can't promise a buyer7:34or a completed move.7:35Finding a buyer typically takes more than two months.7:38The legal process can then add another 150 days, around five months.7:42Accepted offers leave sellers and buyers with a substantial wait before the move is7:46finished.7:47Sellers, starting after the summer holidays and following the September releases7:50averages, could be waiting until after Easter 2027 to move.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗