Rightmove May 2026: asking prices up, market tilts to buyers

What did Rightmove just publish?

On 18 May 2026, Rightmove released its May 2026 House Price Index. The headline figure was a 1.2% month-on-month rise in new seller asking prices, taking the national average to £378,304. The annual change was minus 0.3%, so asking prices are still a touch below where they were a year ago.

Rightmove also reported the highest May supply of homes for sale since 2015. Buyer choice is now at an 11-year May high. Roughly 32% of currently listed homes have already had at least one asking-price reduction since coming to market.

Why is the headline misleading for UK sellers?

An asking price is the figure a home is listed at, not the price the buyer actually pays. The 1.2% monthly rise reported by Rightmove is what sellers are asking for, not what is changing hands.

The other major UK indices, which track sold prices rather than asking prices, tell a steadier story. The gap between the two is widening, and that gap is where the overpricing problem lives.

How long do overpriced homes take to sell in May 2026?

Rightmove's data this month puts a sharp number on the cost of getting the price wrong. Homes priced correctly from day one are selling in an average of 36 days.

Homes that need an asking-price reduction take 127 days. That is more than three and a half times longer on the market.

Getting the asking price right from the outset is therefore increasingly important, as homes priced too ambitiously are taking longer to sell. Colleen Babcock, Rightmove Property Expert, 18 May 2026.

Who is most affected by the May 2026 shift?

Three groups feel this most:

• Sellers who chose an agent on the basis of the highest valuation.
• Sellers in a chain who cannot afford a 127-day delay without their onward purchase falling through.
• Sellers in regions where the annual price trend is already flat or negative.

The South of England carries most of that weight in the May 2026 data. East of England, London, and the South East all show monthly rises sitting on top of flat or negative twelve-month bases. The headline-grabbing monthly number is masking a softer underlying trend in those regions.

What should a homeseller do this month?

1. Get more than one valuation before agreeing a single asking price.
2. Compare the valuations side by side, with the agent's reasoning shown for each figure, not just the number.
3. Price the home at the level the recent sold-comparable data supports, not at the highest valuation offered.
4. Set a clear price-review date in week four and stick to it if viewings or offers stall.
5. Move on a price reduction quickly if the listing has been on the market for more than 30 days with no realistic offers.

What does the mortgage market look like right now?

The Bank of England's base rate has sat at 3.75% since the April 2026 MPC meeting. Several major UK lenders then cut fixed mortgage rates in the week ending 15 May 2026.

• Nationwide cut fixed rates by up to 36 basis points.
• Halifax cut fixed rates by up to 0.35 percentage points.
• HSBC's two-year fixes now start from 4.77%.

Cheaper borrowing pulls more buyers back into viewings. That is part of why Rightmove is seeing stronger transaction activity than the annual asking-price figure on its own would suggest.

Where does this leave Basildon and the East of England?

The East of England's flat annual reading (minus 0.1%) is the local backdrop for any Basildon homeseller reading this. The region is sitting at the steady-and-slow end of the May 2026 picture. Asking prices rose with the national tide this month, but the twelve-month base is essentially flat. That makes pricing accuracy the single biggest lever a Basildon homeseller has on whether the house sells in week six or week eighteen.

How does ValuQ help in a buyer-tilting market?

ValuQ is a UK proptech platform that gives UK homeowners free, side-by-side property valuations from competing local estate agents. The seller stays anonymous until they choose to speak to an agent.

There is one screen, multiple competing valuations, and no obligation to act. In a market where 32% of listings are already being reduced, comparing valuations before committing to one is the most useful thing a seller can do this month.

What is the wider property industry saying?

Hollie Whittaker at Block & Brick told Property Industry Eye on 18 May 2026 that homes priced correctly from the outset are attracting strong interest and agreeing sales. Tom Bill at Knight Frank flagged that mortgage offers predating recent borrowing-cost rises are now lapsing, which is starting to put gentle downward pressure on transaction prices. Craig Webster at Tiger Estates reported one of the strongest months for agreed sales of the year, with buyer-side selectivity now the dominant pattern in the second-half-of-2026 setup.