Midlands Property Market Update – August 2026
Asking Prices Fall, Buyers Have More Choice – But What’s Really Happening in the Midlands?
August is traditionally one of the quieter months in the property market. Families go away, schools are closed and moving home often slips down the priority list for a few weeks.
This year, however, the summer slowdown has been more noticeable.
The latest Rightmove House Price Index shows that the average asking price of a newly listed property has fallen by 2.0% this month, equivalent to £7,360, taking the national average to £364,999.
That is the largest August asking-price fall since 2018, and considerably bigger than the average August fall of 1.3% seen over the last ten years.
But as we've said many times before, a national headline doesn't necessarily tell us what's happening here in the Midlands.
And this month's regional figures are particularly interesting.
First, What Does the 2% Fall Actually Mean?
It is important to understand what Rightmove measures.
This isn't saying that the value of the average home in Britain suddenly fell by 2% in a month.
Rightmove measures the asking prices of properties when they first come onto the market. In other words, it gives us a very current indication of what sellers and estate agents are asking rather than the eventual prices properties complete at.
And sellers appear to be adjusting their expectations.
Nationally, the average asking price has moved from:
£378,304 in May
£376,191 in June
£372,359 in July
£364,999 in August
August's 2% fall follows falls of 0.6% in June and 1.0% in July.
The average asking price is also now 1.0% lower than a year ago, which is the largest annual fall recorded by Rightmove since December 2023.
That may sound concerning in isolation, but there is another side to the story.
Buyers Have A Lot More Choice
One of the biggest influences on today's market is simply the number of properties available.
Rightmove says the number of homes for sale is at a 12-year high for this time of year.
Its stock chart also shows an average of 65 properties per estate agent in July, compared with 56 at the beginning of the year.
For buyers, that's good news.
For sellers, it means competition.
A buyer searching around Daventry, Rugby, Northampton, Towcester or the surrounding villages is likely to have considerably more to compare than they did in some of the much faster markets we've experienced in recent years.
That changes behaviour.
Buyers can afford to look at several properties, compare value and wait for the home that feels right rather than feeling they have to make an immediate decision.
It doesn't mean they aren't buying.
It means sellers have to give them a compelling reason to choose their property.
The Midlands Picture Is More Complicated
This is where the national headline becomes less useful.
Rightmove itself points out that national averages are increasingly hiding significant regional differences.
And that's particularly relevant to us because Campbells operates across both the East and West Midlands.
East Midlands
The average asking price is now:
£288,536
That's:
↓ 1.0% month-on-month
↓ 1.0% year-on-year
The average time to find a buyer is currently 67 days.
West Midlands
The average asking price is:
£298,049
That's:
↓ 0.8% month-on-month
↑ 0.7% year-on-year
The average time to find a buyer is 63 days.
So although asking prices have softened during the summer in both regions, the West Midlands is still 0.7% ahead of this time last year, while the East Midlands is 1.0% behind.
That's worth remembering when you see headlines saying UK asking prices are falling.
Our market stretching from Northampton and Daventry across towards Rugby sits across two regions that are behaving slightly differently.
And even within those regions, individual towns, villages, streets and property types can perform very differently.
How Long Is It Taking To Sell?
Nationally, the average time required to secure a buyer is currently 63 days.
That's only slightly higher than the 60 days recorded in May and 62 days in June.
More importantly, it's considerably better than the 81 days recorded in January.
Locally, Rightmove reports:
East Midlands – 67 days
West Midlands – 63 days
So properties are certainly still selling.
But with more competition, sellers need to be realistic about how quickly a buyer may appear.
Pricing Is Becoming Increasingly Important
Perhaps the most useful message in this month's report isn't that prices have fallen.
It's why.
Rightmove believes many sellers coming to market during August are recognising that buyers have more choice and are therefore setting more competitive asking prices from the outset.
That's an important distinction.
A lower asking price doesn't automatically mean property values are collapsing.
It can simply mean sellers are becoming more realistic about what buyers are prepared to pay.
Rightmove says sellers who price realistically are statistically giving themselves a stronger chance of finding a buyer and successfully completing their move.
In a market with this much choice, starting too high can be particularly damaging.
The first few weeks of marketing are when a property is new, buyers receive their alerts and interest should be at its strongest.
If those buyers look at the price and decide there are better options available, reducing several weeks or months later doesn't necessarily recreate that initial opportunity.
But Buyer Demand Has Picked Up
There is another interesting development in the report.
Although overall buying activity remains around 10% below last year's level, Rightmove has recorded a 5% increase in buyer demand since 20th July.
For comparison, buyer demand fell by 2% over the equivalent period last summer.
It's too early to know whether that will develop into a sustained improvement, but Rightmove believes it could contribute to a busier-than-usual autumn following a subdued summer.
That's potentially encouraging for anyone considering launching their property in September.
What About Mortgage Rates?
This is probably the area we'd like to see improve next.
The average two-year fixed mortgage rate has risen from 4.95% last month to 5.09%.
That return above 5% is likely to have affected some buyer confidence and affordability.
However, Rightmove's mortgage expert says lenders remain highly competitive and there are signs that rates could edge lower again over the coming weeks.
So while borrowing costs remain a challenge, the mortgage market hasn't seized up. Lenders still want to lend and competition remains.
An Interesting First-Time Buyer Comparison
There was another statistic in the Rightmove website data that caught our attention.
The average first-time buyer asking price nationally is now £225,525.
For someone purchasing a typical first-time buyer property with a 10% deposit, Rightmove calculates an average mortgage payment of approximately £1,200 per month.
The equivalent average rent is around £1,295 per month.
So on this measure, the average mortgage payment is around £95 per month lower than the equivalent rent.
Of course, buying requires a deposit and comes with additional costs, and affordability varies enormously from person to person.
But for renters who are in a position to buy, it's an interesting comparison.
What If You're Selling?
This isn't a market where sellers need to panic.
But it is a market where strategy matters.
There are plenty of buyers, but there are also plenty of homes competing for their attention.
That makes the initial asking price, presentation, photography, marketing and launch strategy increasingly important.
And if you're selling and buying again, remember that you don't operate in isolation.
If you accept slightly less than you originally hoped for your current home but can negotiate on the property you're buying, the difference can sometimes be recovered further up the chain.
Rightmove specifically highlights this as something sellers are increasingly doing in today's market.
What If You're Buying?
For buyers, there is quite a lot to like about the current market.
You have more properties to choose from than at this time of year for 12 years, sellers are becoming more realistic about pricing, and the frantic competition that characterised parts of the post-pandemic market has eased considerably.
That doesn't mean every seller will accept a low offer.
Good properties in desirable locations can still attract strong competition.
But generally, buyers have more time to compare their options and potentially more room to negotiate.
If you're also selling, it is worth looking at your move as a whole rather than becoming too focused on one side of the transaction.
What Happens Next?
Rightmove has now revised its forecast for average new seller asking prices in 2026.
At the beginning of the year it had expected growth of around 2%.
It now expects the year to finish somewhere between 0% and -2%.
The reasons include mortgage rates, wider economic and geopolitical uncertainty and the impact of the Chancellor's first Budget in October.
Forecasts can change, of course, and property markets are ultimately driven by millions of individual decisions rather than one national number.
For us, the more interesting question will be what happens as the summer holidays finish.
Buyer demand has already shown some signs of improvement, and September and October traditionally bring more people back into the market.
Our View
The August figures don't tell us that the property market has stopped.
They tell us that the balance between buyers and sellers has changed.
There are more properties available. Buyers can compare more carefully. Sellers are beginning to respond by pricing more competitively.
And that's probably healthy.
The West Midlands remains 0.7% ahead of last year, while the East Midlands is 1.0% lower, showing why sweeping national headlines aren't particularly helpful when deciding what to do with an individual property.
For sellers, the days of simply choosing an ambitious asking price and waiting to see what happens are increasingly difficult to justify.
For buyers, greater choice creates opportunity.
And for anyone thinking about moving this autumn, the important thing isn't really whether the national market is up 1% or down 1%.
It's understanding what buyers are doing in your particular area, at your particular price point, for your type of property.
That's where local market knowledge becomes far more useful than a national average.
If you're considering selling, buying or simply want to understand what your property might be worth in the current market, speak to the Campbells team. We cover Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, including Daventry, Northampton, Rugby, Towcester and the surrounding villages, and we're always happy to have a conversation about your options.
