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 -4% means slightly more surveyors saw new listings fall than rise, which is close to flat. A reading of -23%, June's figure, means the flow of new homes for sale was shrinking quickly.

What did the RICS survey actually say?

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the professional body for surveyors and valuers, runs a monthly survey of property professionals across the UK. Its July 2026 results were published on 13 August 2026.

Two forward-looking readings sit alongside those. Surveyors expect prices to soften over the next three months, at a balance of -31%, but to be modestly higher in twelve months, at +4%. Both figures come from the same 13 August 2026 release.

Why does more new stock matter if buyer numbers are flat?

Because competition is a ratio, not a headcount. When new listings were falling at -23% a month, a home already on the market was mostly up against older stock that local buyers had seen and passed over. That is a comfortable position. It is now changing.

• Fresh listings arrive with fresh photographs, a new price and a place at the top of buyers' search alerts.
• Buyer numbers have not risen to absorb them, with new enquiries stuck at -28% for a second month.
• Agreed sales at -30% mean the funnel is still narrow at the point where offers get made.
• The practical result is more choice per buyer, and more pressure on price and presentation for everyone already listed.

When supply returns before demand does, the home that was quietly winning on scarcity has to start winning on merit.

Are house prices actually falling?

Surveyor sentiment and sold prices are telling slightly different stories, which is normal. Nationwide's July index put annual growth at 1.8%, down from 2.2% in June, with an average price of £277,542. Prices that actually changed hands are therefore still a little higher than a year ago, even while the RICS price balance sits at -30%.

Asking prices are the softer number. Rightmove's July index, published on 20 July 2026, recorded a 1.0% fall in new seller asking prices to an average of £372,359, the largest July drop in a decade, with the stock of homes for sale close to a 12-year high for the time of 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, not at what was listed in spring. Your competition set has changed.
• Compare like for like on the finished figure, not the headline. A rival home £10,000 cheaper with a longer chain is not necessarily the better deal for a buyer.
• 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.

What if I have not listed yet?

The twelve-month expectation of +4% is worth reading carefully. It is a forecast of sentiment, not a promise, and it comes from the same surveyors reporting falling prices today. Waiting for a better market is a real option, but it is a bet, and the RICS chief economist Simon Rubinsohn noted on 13 August 2026 that the forward-looking metrics remain downbeat.

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 not falling apart and it is not recovering. Supply is returning faster than demand, which pushes the advantage towards buyers at the margin. A well-priced home in good order still sells; a hopefully-priced one now has more company.