Asking prices fall 2% in August, and Rightmove cuts its forecast (22 August 2026)

A row of painted period houses on the Causeway in Horsham, West Sussex
Houses on the Causeway in Horsham, West Sussex. Photo for illustration; it is not connected to any figure below. Photo: Horsham, Sussex - houses on the Causeway by Ian Cunliffe (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Geograph via Wikimedia Commons.

August is always a weak month for asking prices. This one was weaker than any since 2018, and Rightmove has responded by cutting its forecast for the year. The southern regions are doing the bulk of the falling, which makes this a Sussex story as much as a national one.

Asking prices down 2.0% in a month, and 1.0% on the year

Rightmove's August house price index, published on 17 August, puts the average asking price of newly listed homes at £364,999, down 2.0% or £7,360 on July. Prices normally slip in August, but the ten-year average for the month is a fall of 1.3%, so this is a materially bigger drop and the largest August fall since 2018.

On the year, asking prices are 1.0% lower, the biggest annual fall since December 2023. The supply picture explains a good deal of it: the number of homes for sale is at a twelve-year high for the time of year, so a seller listing this month is competing with more stock than at any point since 2014. Buyer demand has risen 5% since 20 July, which has not been enough to absorb it. Colleen Babcock of Rightmove put the seller's position simply: "Sellers are having to work harder to stand out and attract them." Source: Rightmove house price index, August 2026.

The South East is down 2.1%, and London 4.4%

The regional split is stark. Average asking prices in the South East fell 2.1% over the month to £469,604, and are 2.1% lower than a year ago. London fell 4.4% in the month to £646,451, the largest regional drop, and is 3.1% down annually. Northern England and Scotland, by contrast, are still edging upwards.

For Sussex that matters more than the national headline. A market where the north is flat-to-rising and the south is falling is not a single market having a quiet August; it is two markets moving apart, and the county sits firmly in the half that is correcting. If you are pricing a Sussex home this autumn, the regional figure is the one to anchor on, not the £364,999 national average. Source: Rightmove.

Rightmove cuts its 2026 forecast from +2% to between 0 and -2%

The portal has downgraded its expectation for new seller asking prices across 2026 as a whole, from growth of 2% to a change of somewhere between zero and minus 2%. It points to continued uncertainty over the direction of interest rates and inflation, and to speculation about property tax changes in the Budget weighing on decisions.

That last point is the one to watch. A forecast downgrade is a description of what has already happened; Budget speculation is what determines whether the autumn market moves at all. Buyers and sellers alike tend to wait when they think the rules might change, and that hesitation shows up as fewer agreed sales rather than lower prices. Source: PrimeResi, reporting the Rightmove index.

What it means if you are moving in Sussex

If you are selling, the message from the data is that the asking price you set in June is probably not the asking price that works in September. Stock is at a twelve-year high and southern prices are the ones giving way, so overpricing now costs weeks rather than pounds. If you are buying, there is genuine room to negotiate and no obvious reason to rush, but a forecast of zero to minus 2% across the year is not the sort of fall worth waiting out if you have found the right house.

Either way, work the numbers before you commit: our moving budget calculator and guide to the cost of moving house in Sussex cover the parts people underestimate.