The 6 facts hitting the housing market hardest in the last 7 days.
5FF 21 August 2026
1. Rightmove downgrades house price forecast for 2026 to -2% amid sharp falls in Summer asking prices and the highest level of homes for sale in 12 years
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/news/content/uploads/2026/08/Rightmove-HPI-17th-August-2026.pdf
2. Inflation back on the increase again, making things harder not easier for the housing market in the months ahead. More bad news for sellers, as this is likely to push up mortgage rates for buyers
https://x.com/moving_charlie/status/2090122826468516069?s=20
3. ONS continues its wilful misrepresentation of house price growth, citing 2% national average growth when in fact it’s nearer 1.2%. As a national average it’s a pointless figure anyway, but it’s heavily relied upon by overvaluing agents to counter any talk of falling house prices and should therefore be debunked and discredited.
https://x.com/moving_charlie/status/2090390840292135208?s=20
4. Time to sell a home has risen from 5.5 months in 2019 to 7 months in 2026. Finding a buyer stays the same at 2.5 months, but waiting for exchange is now 4.5 months, up from 3. This suggests more problems with conveyancing than with estate agency.
https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2026/08/more-expired-property-searches-are-delaying-sales-completions/
5. Zoopla reports half of all homes taking longer to sell than a year ago, and I think this will get worse as the market slows.
https://www.zoopla.co.uk/press/releases/half-of-uk-homes-taking-longer-to-sell-than-last-year-amid-widening-regional-gap-with-sellers-urged-to-price-appropriately/
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