Rightmove has reported a 10% fall in buyer demand and a 9% drop in sales agreed, as rising mortgage rates put further pressure on the housing market.

The property portal’s latest trading update paints a difficult picture for estate agents, with record levels of available stock adding to downward pressure on asking prices.

Average asking prices were 0.3% lower at the end of October than a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the average five-year fixed mortgage rate climbed from 5% at the end of June to 5.5% by 31 October.

Rightmove warned that yesterday’s Bank of England interest rate increase could further weaken affordability. Financial markets are also pricing in additional rate rises during 2027.

Despite the challenging conditions, Rightmove expects revenue and profits to grow this year. It has also upgraded its earnings per share forecast.

Rightmove cuts revenue expectations as housing market slows

Rightmove now expects revenue growth of 6% to 7% in 2026, compared with its previous guidance of 6% to 8%.

Underlying operating profit is forecast to grow by at least 3%, while underlying earnings per share growth has been upgraded from at least 5% to at least 7%.

However, the company has lowered its forecast for average revenue per advertiser (ARPA) growth from £110–£120 to £100–£110.

Rightmove attributed the reduction entirely to weaker spending by housebuilders. Its expectations for estate agency ARPA remain unchanged.

The new-build market continues to struggle, with 6% fewer developments on site at the end of October compared with December 2025.

Rightmove expects its New Homes revenue to fall below last year’s level.

The portal also warned that subdued market conditions could continue into 2027. It expects revenue growth broadly in line with 2026, alongside underlying operating profit growth of 4% to 7%.

Estate agent retention remains high despite market pressures

Rightmove reported estate agency partner retention of 92% at the end of October, down from 93% a year earlier.

The company said this was its second-highest October retention rate in the past decade.

Core membership is expected to remain broadly flat next year.

Meanwhile, the lettings market has shown greater resilience. Enquiries per available rental property have increased, while average rents are 2.9% higher than a year ago.

Rightmove also reported more than 50% growth in mortgage-in-principle submissions, despite higher borrowing costs.

Rightmove accelerates AI rollout for estate agents

Rightmove is expanding its use of artificial intelligence across its consumer platform and agent services.

Its AI-powered call transcription service is now available to all estate agency partners through Rightmove Plus, at no additional package charge.

More than two million calls have been transcribed since the service launched in late summer.

For agents using Optimiser Edge, the company’s Call Intelligence tool has processed more than one million calls, generating AI summaries and identifying key conversation details.

Meanwhile, 14,000 estate agents have used the Rightmove Plus AI Assistant, which provides property performance summaries.

The portal has also launched a new Premium Listing product and continues to expand its Online Agent Valuation service.

On the consumer side, Rightmove has introduced a third feature to its Ask Rightmove AI platform.

The company reports that users engaging with its conversational AI tools spend more than twice as long on the website. They also save three times as many properties and generate more than three times as many leads.

However, these figures compare users who choose to engage with AI against those who do not. They do not establish that AI itself caused the higher engagement.

Rightmove plans £400m-plus shareholder returns

Rightmove expects to return more than £400m to shareholders between July 2026 and July 2027.

Since the end of July, it has returned approximately £125m through dividends and share buybacks.

The company plans a further £80m of share buybacks before the end of this year.

Chief executive Johan Svanstrom said Rightmove remained on course to meet its full-year financial expectations.

“We are on track to deliver revenue and profit growth within our previous full-year guidance, and are upgrading our earnings per share guidance. Our core membership remains stable with strong partner retention levels.”

He added: “This business resilience and the debt facility we announced at the time of our interim results have allowed us to increase shareholder distributions significantly.”

Svanstrom said Rightmove would continue investing in AI tools for agents and consumers.

The company has also confirmed that David Thomas has joined its board as an independent non-executive director, bringing forward his appointment from January 2027.