Buyer demand improved again. Fewer homes are queueing behind it.

What did the RICS survey actually say?

The RICS UK Residential Market Survey is a monthly poll of chartered surveyors and estate agents across the UK. It reports net balances rather than prices: the share of respondents reporting a rise minus the share reporting a fall.

A reading of -19% does not mean demand fell 19%. It means 19 percentage points more people saw demand fall than saw it rise.

The August 2026 results, published on 10 September 2026, show the market getting steadily less negative on almost every activity measure.

Tarrant Parsons, head of market research at RICS, described a market gradually finding its footing, with activity indicators progressively less negative. The survey also recorded tenant demand at +18% against landlord instructions at -14%, and near-term rent expectations jumping to +44%.

Why does the appraisal number matter to a seller?

A market appraisal is the visit an agent or surveyor makes to value a home before it is listed. It is the step that 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 reported fewer appraisals than a year earlier than reported more. New instructions sat at 0%, so listings today are flat rather than falling. Put those two together and the reading is straightforward: the number of homes on the market right now is holding steady, and the queue of homes behind them is shorter than it was last autumn.

• Appraisals are a leading indicator. They tell you about competition in six to twelve weeks, not today.
• Instructions are a current indicator. They tell you how crowded your local market is this week.
• A gap between the two, with appraisals below instructions, points to a thinner market ahead.

Does thinner competition mean I can ask for more?

No, and this is the part worth being clear-eyed about. The house price balance was -28% in August, barely changed from -29% in July. More surveyors are still seeing agreed prices fall than rise, and RICS respondents expect prices to keep drifting down over the next three months before steadying over a twelve-month view.

Rightmove's August index, published on 17 August 2026, told the same story from the asking-price side: the average new asking price fell 2% over the month to £364,999, the largest August fall since 2018, and Rightmove revised its 2026 forecast to between 0% and -2%.

So the honest summary is that more buyers are looking, fewer sellers are queueing behind you, and buyers are still winning on price. Lighter competition improves your odds of getting a sale agreed. It does not hand you a higher number.

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

What is holding buyers back?

Borrowing costs, mostly. The Bank of England base rate stood at 3.75% as of 9 September 2026, with the next Monetary Policy Committee decision due on 17 September 2026. Average rates that day were 5.29% on a two-year fix at 75% loan to value and 5.31% on a five-year fix, against a standard variable rate of 7.34%.

Jeremy Leaf, a north London agent quoted in the survey, put the August pickup down to holiday returnees restarting their searches, though in lower volumes than last year. That is the shape of this recovery: real, but modest.

Should I list now or wait until the new year?

There is no single right answer, and anyone who gives you one is guessing. What the August data does is narrow the question down to three things you can actually check.

1. Count the competition on your own street and in your own price bracket. National net balances are useful context, but your rivals are local and specific.
2. Price to the evidence, not to the hope. With the price balance at -28%, an optimistic asking price now costs you weeks and a reduction later.
3. Work backwards from your own deadline. If you need to be moved by a fixed date, list earlier and price tighter. If you have time, you can afford to test a number.

ValuQ gives UK homeowners free, side-by-side property valuations from competing local estate agents, so you can see what several agents think your home is worth, and how they would price it into this market, before you speak to any of them.

What does the survey mean if you are buying?

You are still in the stronger position on price, and the data says so. But the thinning appraisal pipeline is a signal worth reading: if fewer homes are being prepared for sale, choice in your area may narrow before it widens. If you have found the right home, the case for waiting for a better one to appear is weaker than it was in the spring.

The short version

• Demand is recovering slowly and has now improved for five months in a row.
• Supply today is flat, and the pipeline behind it is thinner than last year.
• Prices are still soft, so competition on price has not eased for sellers.
• The seller's advantage this autumn is visibility, not pricing power.