In this week’s UK Property Market Stats Show, we’re joined by Steph Vass to break down the latest movements in the UK housing market for the week ending Sunday 26th April 2026 (week 16).
In the second half, we turn our attention to Cambridge, analysing which estate and letting agents are truly delivering the best results.
Even if you’re not based in Cambridge, the insights are broadly applicable. If you’re facing pressure from competitors overvaluing properties or undercutting on fees, we’ll walk through a practical analytical approach you can use to demonstrate your value, win more instructions, and justify stronger fee levels.
🟩 Listings YTD
593k new properties have come onto the market YTD
0.9% below of 2025 YTD, 7.1% above 2024 YTD, and 16.9% higher than the 2017–19 average YTD
🟧 Gross Residential Sales YTD
394k UK homes sold STC YTD
5.5% lower than 2025 YTD (417k) , 4.5% higher than 2024 YTD (377k), 15.3% higher than 2023 YTD (342k) and 12.3% higher above pre Covid norms (351k).
🟩 Net Resi Sales YTD
308k UK net home sales YTD (Net Sales being Gross sales less Fall Thrus).
3.2% lower than 2025 (319k), 4.7% ahead of 2024 (275k), 18.2% ahead of 2023 (243k) and 8.9% above the 2017–19 average (264k).
🟥 Exchanges YTD
214k UK Exchanges to the end of March 2026
13% lower than middle of March 2025, when it was 246k.
Note – There were more exchanges in Q1 2025 because of the stamp duty holiday finished in April 2025
🟥 Overvaluing
46.6% of the homes that left UK Estate Agents books in March were withdrawn unsold. Main cause – blatant overvaluing supported by long sole agency agreements of 20+ weeks.
Detailed Breakdown …
✅ New Listings
• 40.2k new properties came onto market this week (week 16), down from 41k last week.
• 2025 weekly average: 30.6k.
• Year week 14 average : 31.7k
✅ Price Reductions
• 25.6k reductions this week, up from 25.5k last week.
• 13.2% of resi homes for sale were reduced in March. Mar 25 – 13.4%. Mar 24 – 12.2%
• 2025 average was 12.8%, versus the 6-year long-term average of 10.7%.
✅ Sales Agreed
• 26.4k homes sold stc this week 16, up from 26.1k last week.
• Week 16 average (for last 10 years which includes the post pandemic boom) : 23.2k
• 2026 weekly average : 24.4k.
✅ Price Difference between Listings & Sales
• 25.2% difference (long term 10 year average is 16% to 17%). (£455k ave Listing Ave Asking price vs £363k Sale Agreed ave. asking price).
✅ Sell-Through Rate
• 15.5% of homes on agents’ books went SSTC in March ’26. (March ’25 – 16.3% / March ’24 – 17.2%)
• Pre-Covid average: 15.5%.
✅ Fall-Throughs
• 5,793 fall-throughs last week (pipeline of 453k home Sold STC).
• Weekly average of fall thrus for the whole of 2025: 6.1k and 5.3k in 2026 YTD
• Fall-through rate (Fall thru expressed as a % of the Gross sales that week): 25.8%, the up from last weeks 22.5%.
• Long-term average: 24.5% (post-Truss chaos saw levels exceed 40%).
• 5.1% of all the sales agreed in Estate Agent’s Sales pipelines fell thru in March 2026. 2025 average – 5.3% & 10 year average – 5.8%).
✅ Net Sales
• 20.6k Net Sales, up from 20.2k last week
• Ten-year Week 16 average: 18.1k.
• Weekly average for 2026: 19.3k.
• Weekly average for the whole of 2025: 18.8k.
✅ Probability of Selling (% that Exchange vs withdrawal)
• March ’26 Stats : 53.4% of homes that left agents’ books exchanged & completed in March. (Note this figure will change throughout the month as more March stats come in).
• 57.6% is the 7 year average (which includes the crazy years post lockdown 18 months).
✅ House Prices (£/sq.ft)
• March ’26 agreed sales averaged £345.64 per sq.ft. 2% higher than 12 months ago (£338.97) and 12.7% than 5 years ago (£306.76). The £/sqft at sale agreed matches the HM Land Registry Index with a 98% accuracy, 5 months in advance. That is why it is so important.
✅ Stock Levels
• 717k homes on the market on the 1st of April ’26. (706k – 1st April 25)
• 453k homes in agent’s sales pipeline on the 1st April 2026, slightly lower than 12 months ago on 1st April ’25 (461k).
✅ UK Rental Data
• Average Rent in March 2026 – £1,740 pcm (£1,747 in March 25)
• 312k UK Rental Stock available to rent in March 26 (313k in March 2025).
✅ Local Focus
Cambridge
Week 16 reinforces a theme that has been building for months, this is not a weak market, it is a selective one. Listings are running ahead of long term averages, yet sales agreed are also holding above the norm, which tells you demand is still there, just more discerning. Buyers have choice, and when buyers have choice, pricing gets exposed quickly. That is why price reductions remain elevated and why such a high proportion of homes are leaving agents’ books unsold. This is not about a lack of buyers, it is about a mismatch between expectation and reality. In the video, Steph & myself discuss how many sellers are still being told what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear, and how that is feeding into withdrawal levels. The market is functioning, but it is unforgiving for those who get the pricing wrong from day one.
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Overvaluing is the huge cause of issues in Estate Agency
so many Estate Agent’s have an ego that hates losing listings so much, they will knowingly lie to themselves in the living room, overpromise a price they know will not hold, sign a seller they know will not commit, and drag a dead listing around for months, just to avoid the discomfort of losing, then call it “the market” when it fails, even though the truth is ….. they chose pride over professionalism the moment they opened your mouth.
but hey, at least they got their listings bonus and cheap bottle of Prosecco at the area mangers meeting
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