High Stock and Weak Demand Make
Poor Start to 2026

February 2026 | Page 2

Key Headlines

• Time on Market Reaches Decade High: Typical Time on Market for unsold properties in England and Wales moved even higher during last month and is currently six days more than in February 2025. Not since 2015 have properties spent so long on the market, including during the COVID lockdown years. The worst increases in marketing times continue to be found in London and the South West.
• Subdued Pricing Continues: Pricing remains very subdued for the time of year. In a vigorous market, prices normally take off and yet we observe a slide of 0.1% during January. Home prices in England and Wales are now just 0.5% higher than in February 2025.
• New Listings Down 13% Year-on-Year: The total number of new instructions in January came in at 13% less than in January 2025. However, the total of 101,079 is much higher than observed in Jan. 2022 and Jan. 2023, indicating that supply remains far from tight. The most significant year-on-year reductions of new sales listings were in London, the North West and Wales.
• Stock Levels Return to 2013 Highs: As expected, the total unsold stock on the market has begun its rapid seasonal ascent. The current level is essentially the same as February 2025's total, although we would need to look back to 2013 to see a higher unsold property count for the month of February.
• Scotland Leads, London Lags: The mix-adjusted average slipped in several English regions, with London and the South East losing the most ground. Yorkshire and Scotland indicated the largest rises of 0.7% and 1.4% respectively. Scotland is now the top regional property market growth leader with a year-on-year gain of 2.9%, followed by the North West with an annualised rise of 2.7%. Meanwhile, London remains the weakest regional performer with a worsening annualised decline of 1.2%.
• Rental Decline Eases Marginally: The annualised national growth in asking rents reads slightly better than last month at -3.7%, which is a marginal improvement on the January figure ( -4.1%). All English regions, Scotland and Wales continue to indicate year-on-year declines in the mix-adjusted average asking rent. The worst performers are the East Midlands and Yorkshire with annualised declines of 10.2% and 10.9% respectively.

February 2026 | Page 3

Market Overview

One seasonal expectation still bears out, however, and that is the ramping up of stock levels. Together, these factors signal a rather difficult start to the year.

Meanwhile, mortgage lenders are seemingly falling over each other to cut rates in order to retain market share during a time of reduced demand. Many of the new deals are in high loan-to-value (LTV) products which are commonly sought by first-time buyers. Of course, as is the norm nowadays, the fees will still be substantial.

Stock levels remain at their highest for many years and persistent oversupply continues, which means that the supply-demand imbalance is not going to improve in the near term. The large number of landlords wanting to offload their portfolios in response to the Renters' Rights Act is exacerbating the situation. Minor cuts to the Bank of England base rate won't fix this ongoing structural change.

February 2026 | Page 4

Stock Levels Analysis

Stock levels have begun their expected seasonal rise from an already high count for the time of year. The unsold property total is comparable to last February and was last seen at this magnitude in February 2013 as the aftermath of the financial crisis unwound. Expectations are for new listings to continue to ramp up rapidly over the coming months, perhaps surpassing last year's maximum.

Source: Home.co.uk Property Search Index

February 2026 | Page 5

Asking Price Trend

Home prices have yet to show strength since June last year. An uptick is to be anticipated over the coming months but, given the already high stock level, this is likely to be minor. Prices now rest a mere 0.5% higher overall than in February 2025. This is a major problem for institutional investors since the erosion of real capital value by inflation vastly reduces potential returns. The latest reading of RPI is for December last year when it was standing at 4.2%.

Source: Home.co.uk HAPI Index

February 2026 | Page 6

Regional Variation

Our regional chart this month shows the relative growth over the last five years against cumulative inflation over the same period. What is immediately apparent is that no region achieved sufficient home price growth to keep up with or surpass the rate of inflation. Over the same time period, the gold price has increased by 184%.

Source: Home.co.uk and Office for National Statistics

February 2026 | Page 7

UK Asking Prices by region

Scotland

£239,771

1m: +1.4%

12m: +2.9%

North East

£205,524

1m: 0.0%

12m: +2.6%

North West

£278,441

1m: +0.3%

12m: +2.7%

Yorks & Humber

£261,985

1m: +0.7%

12m: +1.8%

Wales

£276,535

1m: 0.0%

12m: +2.1%

West Midlands

£308,869

1m: -0.2%

12m: +1.6%

East Midlands

£285,132

1m: -0.2%

12m: +0.5%

East

£389,939

1m: +0.2%

12m: -0.4%

London

£539,426

1m: -0.4%

12m: -1.2%

South East

£440,886

1m: -0.4%

12m: +0.5%

South West

£376,498

1m: +0.3%

12m: +0.1%

February 2026 | Page 8

Time on Market Analysis

Regional Time on Market - February 2026

Source: Home.co.uk | Note: Average = Mean, Typical = Median days on market of unsold property

February 2026 | Page 9

Market Turnover & Real Price Growth

February 2026 | Page 10

Expert Commentary

Perhaps the single largest factor affecting the UK property sales market is the landlord exodus. As reported by Sam Barker in Mortgage Strategy in December 2025, some 31% of landlords are looking to reduce their portfolios (according to a recent English Private Landlord Survey). There are still around 2.9 million landlords, according to HMRC declarations. Should they all attempt to sell one property this year, that would mean around 900,000 additional properties entering the sales market. This would be a veritable tsunami of inventory which would dwarf the current total of stock for sale (around 470,000).

Some will procrastinate, of course, but even if only half sit on their hands, the consequences for home prices in the ensuing fire sale would be simply catastrophic. This in itself would trigger a significant opportunity for the bold and well-informed buyer. Substantial discounts can be had during periods when vendors are on the back foot.

February 2026 | Page 11

About the Home Asking Price Index

The Home.co.uk Asking Price Index was originally devised in association with Calnea Analytics: the statistical consultancy responsible for the production of the official Land Registry House Price Index.

The Home.co.uk Asking Price Index (HAPI) is calculated using a weighting system based on the DCLG (formerly ODPM) Survey of English Housing Stock (published March 2006). This allows for enhanced regional delineation and conforms to the current geographical orthodoxy as set out by the Office of National Statistics.

Methodology Note: Properties above £1m and below £20k are excluded from the calculations.

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