Homes in London now take an average of 56 days to find a buyer, longer than in any other region of Britain, according to Zoopla's latest house price index. Buyers across the country have 7% more homes to choose from than a year ago, and since Thursday they face a higher Bank Rate as well.
None of this means a well-priced home will not sell this winter. It does mean that the margin for error at launch has narrowed, and the evidence on what happens to homes that start too high is unusually clear.
What the latest figures show
Zoopla's index for October, published on 27 October, puts average London prices 1% lower than a year earlier, with prices falling in 85% of postcode areas across London and the South East. Across the UK, sales agreed were 7% lower than a year before, an improvement on the 9% shortfall a month earlier. The average home in Britain took 44 days to find a buyer, the same as last year; in London it took 56.
The Lloyds House Price Index, published on 6 November, recorded a 0.6% fall in UK prices in October and an annual fall of 1.2%, which Andrew Assam, Mortgages Director at Lloyds, described as the biggest annual fall since October 2023. He added: "we don't expect this to lead to a sustained period of falling house prices." Both indices cover the whole market rather than prime London, where LonRes's figures have shown sharper falls this year, but they set the mood buyers bring to every negotiation.
Why the first weeks matter
Zoopla's analysis of homes listed between April and June this year is the most useful finding for sellers. Of homes that had no price reduction, 41% found a buyer within 90 days; of homes that were reduced, only 19% did. Homes priced below Zoopla's estimate of their value sold within 90 days in 41% of cases, against 26% for homes priced at least 20% above it.
In Zoopla's own words, "the moment that homes get the most attention from buyers is when they first go on the market". A reduction a few weeks later does not recreate that moment. Buyers who have been watching a listing see the cut, and many read it as a sign that there is further to go.
Some of the difference reflects the homes themselves: a house that needs a reduction is often one that was harder to sell for other reasons. But the pattern matches what LonRes found in prime London in the third quarter, where homes that sold within three months needed far smaller discounts than those that lingered, as we set out in an earlier article.
Rates after the Bank of England's rise
On Thursday 5 November the Bank of England raised Bank Rate by a quarter of a point to 4%, the first increase since August 2023. Eight members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted for the rise and one wanted a half-point increase. Consumer price inflation was 3.5% in September, and the Bank now expects it to rise to around 5% by the middle of next year. It also said that "monetary policy is not on a pre-set path".
We will not predict what comes next. What matters for a seller is that many buyers are borrowing at higher rates than they planned for in the spring, and that fixed-rate pricing already reflects expectations of further rises, according to SPF Private Clients. A buyer whose budget was set on a mortgage offer from the summer may need to revisit it.
Prime London is less dependent on mortgages than the wider market, but not immune. Many buyers above £2 million still borrow, and a chain that includes a mortgaged buyer further down is exposed to the same pressures.
Preparing a winter launch
- Price from achieved evidence. Asking prices on nearby listings show what other sellers hope for; recent achieved prices for comparable homes show what buyers have paid.
- Treat the first fortnight as the launch. Photographs, floor plan, energy certificate and the material information buyers expect should all be ready before the home goes live, not added later.
- Plan around the holidays. Buyers who view in November and early December are usually serious; a home launched in mid-December may sit through a quiet fortnight and look stale by January.
- Prepare the paperwork early. Leasehold information, planning consents and service charge accounts take time to gather, and delays after an offer give a nervous buyer time to reconsider.
None of this is financial advice. The right launch price depends on the home, the street and the evidence, and on how quickly the owner needs to move.
Dolce Vita handles sales and lettings across the UK from Mayfair, and helps clients buy abroad through partner agencies. If you are deciding whether to launch before Christmas or wait for the new year, Request a valuation; we acknowledge the same working day and return a written valuation within 24 to 48 hours.
Hanane Dawson, Founder
Sources: Zoopla, House Price Index, October 2026, published 27 October 2026. Lloyds, House Price Index, October 2026, published 6 November 2026, including comment by Andrew Assam. Bank of England, Monetary Policy Report, November 2026, published 5 November 2026. SPF Private Clients, "Bank of England votes to increase the base rate to 4 per cent", 5 November 2026. LonRes, prime London sales figures for the third quarter of 2026 (via Property Industry Eye, 22 October 2026).