Nationwide House Price Index August 2026

August's property market has been steady, with buyers slowly returning and sellers realising they can't sell for 2021 prices.

Stock sits at its highest August level since 2014, which is why asking prices saw their biggest August drop since 2018, even as buyer demand rose 5% after the change of Prime Minister. In our Eastbourne office, the homes going under offer are the sensibly priced ones. The rate picture explains why vendors must price sensibly - the base rate has been held at 3.75%, yet fixed rates have drifted upwards all year, so anyone waiting for cheaper money has gone backwards.

September should pick up, whilst the holiday lull ends, remortgage maturities spike, and with the Bank's next decision on 17 September, buyers may finally accept that today's deal can beat tomorrow's promise

August felt active, but not especially decisive. Buyers are still looking, although affordability and pricing appear to be limiting how quickly that interest turns into transactions.

One of the more interesting summer signals has been the gap between activity and outcomes. Recent figures showed property searches rising while sales agreed remained below last year, suggesting demand hasn't disappeared but buyers are taking their time.

We're seeing a related pattern in bridging finance, with demand around chain breaks and development exits. But a slower sales market can also make the eventual exit from short-term finance harder, so more enquiries don't necessarily mean more completions.

I'd expect the usual September pick-up, but pricing and mortgage affordability will determine how much of that activity converts into transactions.

August was quieter than usual for purchase business, and I saw a clear drop in new buyer enquiries. The clients who did make contact were serious, but affordability often dictated the conversation. Rather than asking only what rate they could secure, buyers increasingly wanted to know what they could realistically borrow and whether their intended deposit would be enough.

Some are holding back in the hope that rates will improve, but a lower headline rate will not necessarily solve the problem if household commitments continue to restrict affordability. Others are responding more practically by reducing their property budget or increasing their deposit.

I expect enquiries to improve in September as the holiday period ends, although I would not assume that every enquiry will quickly become a purchase.

The biggest barrier is no longer a lack of aspiration; it is whether the mortgage figures allow buyers to turn that aspiration into a realistic purchase

August was surprisingly strong for enquiries and we didn’t see the usual summer holiday drop-off we would normally expect. Despite the economic headwinds and uncertainty around mortgage rates, there is clearly still strong demand from people wanting to buy and move home.

Whether that means we see less of the usual September bounce remains to be seen, because some of that activity may simply have happened earlier. But the resilience of demand through August suggests buyers haven’t disappeared or simply put their plans on hold.