London home sellers boost asking prices again after tough year

Published Mon, Oct 19, 2026 · 03:22 PM

LONDON home sellers raised their asking prices for a second month, with many taking an “enough is enough” attitude after a poor summer for the capital’s housing market, according to Rightmove.

The average newly listed London property rose 2.5 per cent in October following a 1.8 per cent gain in September, the real estate website said on Monday (Oct 19). While asking prices typically pick up in the early autumn, the increase in the past two months was the largest for the period in more than a decade. 

London has been the UK’s worst-performing housing market this year, forcing sellers to slash asking prices by almost 6 per cent - the equivalent of around £40,000 (US$53,500) — over July and August alone. Some are now reluctant to cut further in a city where property has historically outpaced the rest of the country.

“After a subdued year for London prices, some new sellers may feel they have little room to go lower without making their onward move unaffordable,” Rightmove said.

Marc von Grundherr, director of Benham and Reeves in London, said an “enough is enough” mentality is emerging.

“London bricks and mortar remain one of the strongest assets they can hold. For these homeowners, selling for anything less than what they consider a reasonable price simply isn’t a sensible move, particularly if they have little urgency to sell.”

It remains to be seen whether sellers can achieve the prices they want, and Rightmove said the housing market in London and across the UK was fragile with the surge in mortgage rates caused by the Iran war starting to bite.

In London, sellers are discounting around four in 10 listings, and the average time to find a buyer has increased to 78 days, up from just 68 in May, it said.

New fixed-rate mortgages have surged to around 6 per cent, an increase that has hit particularly hard in London where the average asking price stood at £673,942 in October — almost double the UK average. 

The capital is also under pressure from higher taxes and a clampdown on landlords, as well as an upcoming surcharge on the most expensive properties.

The so-called mansion tax, to be levied on homes valued at over £2 million from 2028, is encouraging owners of top-end properties to sell up, Grundherr said.

“Stronger asking prices don’t necessarily translate into stronger achieved prices, and sellers will still need to be realistic if they want to secure a buyer in what remains a relatively price-sensitive market,” he said.

In the UK as a whole, asking prices rose a more modest 1 per cent to £371,015, according to Rightmove. The survey was based on properties put on sale between Sep 13 and Oct 10. BLOOMBERG