Asking prices rise 0.7% as homes for sale hit a 12-year high

What Rightmove found

Rightmove published its September 2026 House Price Index on Monday 21 September 2026. The headline figure is a 0.7% monthly rise in the average asking price of a newly listed home, an increase of £2,441 to £367,440. It is the first monthly increase since May and it is above the ten-year average September rise of 0.5%. The index measures asking prices of newly listed homes, not sold prices, so it records what sellers are hoping to achieve at the point a property comes to market rather than what buyers ultimately pay.

Set against the wider year, the September rise is modest. Asking prices are 0.8% below September 2025 and 2.3% below the start of summer. The August reading fell 2.0%, or £7,360, to £364,999, so the September figure recovers only part of that summer decline. The pattern is a seasonal bounce in asking prices rather than a change in direction for the market as a whole. Colleen Babcock, property expert at Rightmove, said the above-average September rise is a welcome sign of confidence after a subdued summer but should be seen as a modest recovery rather than a major turning point. That framing matters for anyone reading the number as evidence of a turning point. A single month above the seasonal norm, in a year when asking prices remain below where they were twelve months earlier, is a pricing signal from sellers rather than a broad recovery in activity or in achieved prices.

The most crowded market in 12 years

The supply backdrop is the most important context for the September figure. The number of homes for sale is at a 12-year high. Buyers have more choice than at any point in more than a decade, and that choice shapes how much pricing power sellers actually have. Alongside the high level of stock, new listings are 3% lower than a year ago, buyer enquiries are 9% lower and agreed sales are 9% lower. Rightmove notes that activity has picked up since the summer holidays, but the annual comparisons remain negative across all three measures. A market with record stock and fewer buyers is one where asking prices can rise seasonally while the balance of negotiating power stays with purchasers.

Time on market tells a similar story. Homes took an average of 64 days to find a buyer and a further 150 days to complete. The gap between finding a buyer and completing means the transaction a seller agrees in the autumn is unlikely to complete before spring. Across the country, 61% of listed homes found a buyer, but the regional range is wide. In Scotland 91% of listed homes found a buyer, in the North West 71% and in the South East 56%. In London the figure was 42%, the lowest in the report. The spread shows that national averages conceal very different local conditions. A seller in Scotland faces a market where nearly all listed homes find a buyer, while a seller in London faces one where fewer than half do. For buyers, the same figures describe a market with more stock to choose from and, in the slower regions, more room to negotiate than the headline asking price rise suggests.

Mortgage rates moving the other way

While asking prices ticked up, the cost of borrowing moved in the opposite direction. Rightmove's mortgage tracker puts the average two-year fixed rate at 5.29%, up from 5.09% a month earlier. The Bank of England held Bank Rate at 3.75% last week, but fixed rates have risen as the swap rates lenders price from have climbed. That divergence is central to how the autumn market is likely to behave. Fixed mortgage rates are priced from swap rates, which reflect expectations for future interest rates rather than the current Bank Rate. When swap rates rise, lenders reprice fixed deals upwards even if Bank Rate is unchanged. A buyer comparing the September asking price figure with their own budget therefore faces a higher monthly cost than a month ago, which reduces what they can borrow at a given income and deposit.

Matt Smith, Rightmove's mortgage expert, said uncertainty over where rates go in the medium term is likely holding back some potential movers. That uncertainty sits alongside the supply picture. With homes for sale at a 12-year high and enquiries and agreed sales both 9% lower than a year ago, the market is not short of choice for buyers. Higher fixed rates reduce affordability at the same time as more stock gives buyers more alternatives, which tends to slow the pace at which asking prices are met. The September rise in asking prices and the September rise in two-year fixed rates are therefore pulling in different directions. Sellers who price on the assumption that the seasonal bounce reflects stronger demand may find that buyers, facing higher fixed rates and more choice, are unwilling to meet those expectations.

What it means this autumn

The practical implication of the September data is that pricing from day one carries more weight than usual. With the number of homes for sale at a 12-year high, buyers have more alternatives, and a property that looks expensive relative to comparable stock can sit unsold while others move. The 64-day average to find a buyer and the 150 further days to complete mean the cost of an over-optimistic asking price is measured in months, not weeks. The regional sale rates reinforce the point: in London, where 42% of listed homes found a buyer, the margin for error on price is narrower than in Scotland, where 91% did. The September rise of 0.7% to £367,440 is a seasonal signal from sellers, and the fact that asking prices remain 0.8% below September 2025 shows how much ground the market has to make up before the year-on-year trend changes.

Rightmove forecasts national average asking prices to end 2026 between 0% and -2%, citing mortgage rate movements, economic uncertainty and the Budget on 28 October. That forecast implies asking prices finishing the year flat to slightly lower than they started, which is consistent with a market where seasonal rises are offset by weaker conditions elsewhere in the year. The Budget date gives buyers and sellers a fixed point of uncertainty in the autumn calendar, and the mortgage rate picture gives them a moving one. For sellers, the data describes a market where asking prices rose in September but where stock is at a 12-year high and buyer activity is lower than a year ago. For buyers, it describes more choice, slower transactions and borrowing costs that rose over the past month. The index measures asking prices of newly listed homes, not sold prices, so the September figure records seller expectations at listing, not the prices at which homes actually change hands.

Source: Rightmove House Price Index.

Related coverage on Kael Tripton: Mortgage Rates Are Falling Before the Bank Even Moves: What Was Cut and Whether to Fix, What Are Swap Rates? How They Affect UK Mortgage Rates Explained, UK House Price Index: how it works and what the latest figures show, Nationwide House Price Index July 2026: UK Prices Edge Higher, First-time buyers now take 52.8% of UK mortgages, ONS finds.

Frequently asked questions

What did Rightmove's September 2026 index show?

The average asking price of a newly listed home rose 0.7%, or £2,441, to £367,440. It was the first monthly increase since May and above the ten-year average September rise of 0.5%.

Are asking prices higher than a year ago?

No. Asking prices are 0.8% below September 2025 and 2.3% below the start of summer, despite the September monthly rise.

How much housing stock is for sale?

The number of homes for sale is at a 12-year high. New listings are 3% lower than a year ago, buyer enquiries are 9% lower and agreed sales are 9% lower.

How long does it take to sell a home?

Homes took an average of 64 days to find a buyer and a further 150 days to complete. 61% of listed homes found a buyer, ranging from 91% in Scotland to 42% in London.

What is happening to mortgage rates?

The average two-year fixed rate is 5.29%, up from 5.09% a month earlier, even though the Bank of England held Bank Rate at 3.75%. Fixed rates have risen as swap rates have climbed.