House price growth halves to 0.8%. What now for sellers?

What did Nationwide report for September 2026?

Nationwide's House Price Index is a monthly measure built from the building society's own mortgage approvals. Its September figures, published on 1 October 2026, show prices easing at a time when mortgage costs have risen despite the Bank of England holding its base rate.

Bloomberg described the monthly fall as weaker than economists expected and the fourth drop in five months. The traditional autumn bounce did not arrive in September.

Which parts of the UK are weakest and strongest?

A regional table is the part of the release that matters most to a seller, because a national average hides very different local markets. Nationwide's third-quarter 2026 regional figures show a wide spread.

By property type, Nationwide found terraced homes strongest at +1.8% a year, while flats were essentially flat on a year ago.

Why have prices softened?

The coverage points to a market in which buyers and sellers are both reluctant to move unless they have to. Tomer Aboody of MT Finance said both sides are holding back, and Jonathan Hopper of Garrington Property Finders said homes for sale outnumber serious buyers in large parts of the country.

Not everyone reads it as a slump. Jeremy Leaf, a London estate agent and former RICS chair, said demand has improved slowly over the last three to four weeks. A fall of 0.2% in a month is a cooling, not a collapse.

What should a seller do after this index?

• Price to the sold evidence for homes like yours on your own street and in your own postcode, not to last spring's asking prices or a headline average.
• Treat the national figure as background. East Anglia at -0.7% and the North West at +3.9% are in the same release, so your location matters more than the average.
• If your home has been listed for several weeks without viewings, ask what the evidence says before cutting. Our guide to reducing your asking price sets out how to decide.
• Get more than one agent's view of value. Valuations differ, and a second opinion costs you nothing but a little time.
• If you are also buying, check what a higher mortgage rate does to your own monthly cost before you commit.

The selling decision belongs to you, and so does the timeline. A slower index is a reason to price carefully, not a reason to panic.

ValuQ is a UK platform that gives homeowners free, side-by-side property valuations from competing local estate agents, and the seller stays anonymous until they choose to connect.

What does this mean for buyers?

A softer index gives buyers more room to negotiate, particularly on homes that have been listed for some time. Buyers still have to pass a lender's affordability check at today's rates, so a lower price is not automatically a cheaper month.

Questions sellers are asking about the September index