More homes are coming to market. Buyers haven't followed.

A net balance is the share of surveyors reporting a rise minus the share reporting a fall. A reading of -19% does not mean buyer numbers fell 19%. It means 19 percentage points more respondents saw demand fall than saw it rise.

What changed between July and August 2026?

This article was written on the July release. The August survey, published on 10 September 2026, moved the story on in two ways worth being clear about.

• Buyers did follow, slowly. New buyer enquiries improved from the summer lows to -19% in August, the fifth monthly improvement in a row and the least negative reading since January.
• Supply stopped being the story. New instructions came in flat at 0%, and the appraisal pipeline behind them turned negative at -17%.
• RICS also restated some earlier figures, as it often does. July new instructions are now shown as -2% rather than the -4% first reported, and the July price balance as -29% rather than -30%.

Why does the appraisal number matter now?

A market appraisal is the valuation visit an agent or surveyor makes to a home before it is listed. It happens weeks or months before a For Sale board goes up, which makes it the closest thing the market has to a supply forecast.

At -17%, more respondents saw fewer of those visits than a year earlier than saw more. With instructions flat at 0%, the reading is that today's market is about as crowded as it was, and the queue forming behind it is shorter.

Thinner competition improves your chances of being seen. The price is still set by what a buyer can borrow.

Are house prices actually falling?

Surveyor sentiment and sold prices still tell slightly different stories, which is normal. The RICS price balance stood at -28% in August, so more respondents saw agreed prices fall than rise, and they expect prices to keep softening over the next three months before steadying on a twelve-month view.

Asking prices remain the softer number. Rightmove's August index, published on 17 August 2026, recorded a 2% monthly fall in new seller asking prices to an average of £364,999, the largest August drop since 2018, and Rightmove revised its 2026 forecast to between 0% and -2%.

What is holding buyers back?

Borrowing costs. As of 9 September 2026 the Bank of England base rate stood at 3.75%, with the next Monetary Policy Committee decision due on 17 September 2026.

Average rates that day were 5.29% on a two-year fix and 5.31% on a five-year fix at 75% loan to value, against a standard variable rate of 7.34%. Jeremy Leaf, a north London agent quoted in the August survey, put the pickup down to holiday returnees restarting their searches, in lower volumes than last year.

What should I do if my home is already on the market?

• Look at what has come on near you in the last three weeks rather than what was listed in spring. Your competition set changes faster than the national data.
• Ask your agent for viewing numbers rather than opinions. Viewings are the honest measure of whether your price is landing.
• If you are getting viewings and no offers, the issue is usually the property or the presentation. If you are getting neither, it is usually the price.
• Work out the net figure you would actually walk away with at a lower price before you agree to a reduction, so the decision is arithmetic rather than nerves.
• Treat the improving demand numbers as a reason to stay on the market rather than a reason to hold out for more. The price balance is still negative.

What if I have not listed yet?

The twelve-month sales expectation improved to +6% in August, and it is worth reading carefully. It is a forecast of sentiment, not a promise, and it comes from the same respondents reporting falling prices today.

The stronger move is to find out where your home genuinely sits before you commit to anything. ValuQ gives UK homeowners free, side-by-side property valuations from competing local estate agents, so you can see several considered opinions on one screen before you speak to a single agent.

What is the honest read for sellers this month?

The market is grinding back rather than turning. Demand has improved for five months running, supply today is flat, and the pipeline behind it is thinner than last year. A well-priced home in good order still sells, and it now has a slightly better chance of being noticed.

What has not changed is pricing power. Buyers are still setting the number, because rates are still setting their budgets.