Is it a buyer's or a seller's market right now?

The question sits behind almost every selling decision, and the honest answer for mid-2026 is that conditions favour the buyer. That does not mean prices are tumbling. It means the balance of power at the negotiating table has shifted, and it changes how you should price and position a home.

What is a buyer's market, and what is a seller's market?

A buyer's market is when there are more homes for sale than there are active buyers, so buyers can take their time, negotiate harder, and choose. A seller's market is the reverse, when buyers outnumber the homes available, so sellers can hold firmer on price and sales move faster. The UK swings between the two over the years, and it can even differ street by street.

Are we in a buyer's or a seller's market in 2026?

The recent data points the same way: toward buyers. New buyer enquiries and agreed sales are both running below their neutral balance, and asking prices were cut in June, while the completed-price indices are broadly flat. Here is what the main measures were saying in the summer of 2026.

Read together, these say the same thing in different ways. A buyer today has more homes to pick from and less competition, so a seller cannot rely on scarcity to push the price up. The indices differ because each measures a different stage: Rightmove counts asking prices, Nationwide and Lloyds use their own mortgage lending, and the figures a buyer actually pays sit somewhere in between.

What does a buyer's market mean if I am selling?

It raises the cost of getting the price wrong. In a seller's market an over-optimistic price can still find a buyer. In a buyer's market it does the opposite: the home sits, the listing goes stale, and you often end up accepting less than a realistic price would have brought in the first place.

• Price to what is actually selling near you now, not to the peak of an earlier market or to the highest valuation you were quoted.
• Be wary of the agent who wins your instruction with the biggest number. The highest valuation is not the same as the highest sale price.
• Present the home well, because in a market with more choice, buyers can afford to be fussy.
• Reward a committed buyer. A slightly lower offer from a buyer with a mortgage agreed and nothing to sell can be worth more than a higher offer built on a fragile chain.

What does a buyer's market mean if I am buying?

It works in your favour. You have more to choose from, more room to negotiate, and less pressure to decide on the spot. It is still worth moving decisively on the right home, because a well-priced property in a good spot can go quickly even in a slower market, but you are negotiating from the stronger side.

ValuQ gives UK homeowners free, side-by-side property valuations from competing local estate agents, which matters most in a buyer's market, because it lets you compare what several agents would actually price your home at before you pick one on merit rather than on the biggest number.