Buying or selling a house in the UK isn’t getting any easier. A new survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) suggests property prices are set to fall over the next three
months, as the housing market continues to cool.
Surveyors say demand is easing, with fewer buyers stepping forward and fewer homes being put up for sale. Around 20% of respondents expect house prices to drop in the coming quarter, while sales activity is also expected to stay flat.
Looking further ahead, the outlook isn’t all negative—surveyors still see prices rising modestly over the next year. But optimism has faded compared with the start of 2025.
August brought fresh signs of a slowdown: buyer inquiries fell more sharply than in July, new listings dipped for the first time in over a year, and sales agreed between buyers and sellers also dropped.
The picture varies by region. East Anglia and the South West are seeing steeper price declines, while Northern Ireland is bucking the trend, with prices still under upward pressure.
On the rental side, it’s a different story—rents are expected to keep climbing, with around 3% growth projected over the next year.
RICS analyst Tarrant Parsons summed it up: the housing market is under pressure from weak demand, fewer sales, and wider economic uncertainty. Stubbornly high inflation and uncertainty over future interest rate moves are weighing heavily on confidence.