Are house prices falling? English town sale prices in 2026 so far

Across the 831 English towns with enough registered sales this year to compare, more towns are down than up: 56% have a lower median than last year, 28% a higher one, and the median town is -1.8% on the year.

These figures compare different sets of recorded sales in two unequal periods. Changes in the properties sold and in registration coverage can move a median, so the result is not a same-home price change.

The official UK House Price Index put annual growth at 2.0% in the twelve months to June 2026, an average of £272,000, in the ONS bulletin published on 19 August. Nationwide's index, which runs a month or two ahead of the register, put August annual growth at 1.6% with a 0.2% monthly rise.

RICS' survey of surveyors reported a house price net balance of minus 28% for August, with respondents expecting prices to fall over the following three months. In June, Savills published a revised forecast of a 2% fall for 2026 across the UK and 4% for London. The Chancellor has confirmed the Budget for Wednesday 28 October, and until then nobody knows what property tax will look like on the other side of it.

For each town, the median of sales registered in 2026 through 2026-09-30 is compared with the median for the whole of 2025. Inclusion requires at least 50 registered sales in the partial year. This is an editorial sample floor; the sensitivity check below also uses lower and higher thresholds.

A change within 1% either way is called flat. Down and up are anything beyond that. The three groups partition the towns, so the shares add to the whole.

Every region except the North West has more towns with a falling median than a rising one in this extract. The North West has more towns up than down. The table shows the counts and median change for each region.

London, taken as one town in the register, is -4.3% on 23,299 registered sales so far this year, the largest fall among the big cities. The others sit within a few percent of last year in both directions.

These towns have the largest negative changes after the sales-count filter. Read each change alongside the number and dates of recorded sales; a few unusual transactions can move a thin sample.

The price columns distinguish a large percentage move at a low price level from a similar move on a dearer set of homes. Both compare different sale cohorts.

A median follows the middle of the recorded price distribution. It can change when the type, size or location of the homes sold changes. This calculation does not match the same properties across periods or adjust for those attributes, so the direction and size of any composition effect remain unmeasured.

The dataset contains 371,586 recorded sales in 2026, compared with 738,902 for the previous complete year. The periods span different parts of the calendar. Later registrations and revisions can change the latest-year figures.

Small towns swing for no reason, which is what the floor is for. It does not drive the result: at a floor of 30 sales, 56% of towns are down and the median change is -1.8%; at a floor of 50 sales, 56% of towns are down and the median change is -1.8%; at a floor of 100 sales, 56% of towns are down and the median change is -1.7%.

In the stated sample, 56% of qualifying towns have a lower median than the previous complete year, and the median town change is -1.8%. These are comparisons of recorded sale-price distributions. The calculation cannot separate changes in property values from changes in the homes sold or registration coverage.

Check the local type-and-tenure breakdown and the transaction dates before applying a town-level result to an asking price. A same-property or suitably adjusted index addresses a different question from these raw town medians.

Every town page carries its own year-by-year series with the partial year marked, for example Rowlands Gill and Swanage. The regional picture is on the regions index. This is market analysis, not advice.

Data: HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, standard sales only, registered through 2026-09-30. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.