But regional differences show widest divide of 2026
Sales agreed failed to keep pace with new listings for the first time since spring in July as new listings rose 2.6% to 209,941, while sales agreed grew only 1.1% to 114,561. The imbalance eased the national conversion rate 0.8 percentage points to 54.6%, down from November’s 69.7% peak.
Sprift’s latest Sales Market Intelligence Report also shows that prices were reduced on 31.3% of properties in July, only just lower than June’s 31.8%. Nationally, 95,380 listings remain unconverted, and nearly four in ten carry a price reduction.
Regionally, analysis shows the widest divide of all year. Scotland sees the highest conversion at 77.0%, followed by Yorkshire and the Humber at 64.5% and Wales at 62.8%.
Meanwhile, conversion in London is almost half at 39.4%, the widest gap between any two regions this year.
Six of the 11 regions in Great Britain convert above the national average, with the West Midlands, North East and North West also outperforming. In Scotland, fall-through prices are running above the average new instruction price at £259,851 against £254,974, with buyers paying above asking to secure stock.
Price reduction analysis
Price reductions follow a similar pattern by region. The South East carries the highest reduction rate in the country at 43.6% of listings, while Scotland’s 21.5% is the lowest. Across Great Britain, there are now 748,652 properties for sale, sitting on the market for an average of 155 days. The South East holds the largest unconverted backlog of any region at 17,637 properties, more than six times Scotland’s 2,559.
Looking to the future, planning applications rose 56.2% to 19,682 in July, though the approval rate eased slightly to 85.0% of decided applications as refusals grew faster than approvals. Consents granted this month typically become completions in two to three years.
Matt Gilpin, founder and CEO at Sprift, said: “July is another reminder that there really is no such thing as ‘the UK housing market’. Scotland is converting 77% of new listings. London is converting just 39%. Across Great Britain, new supply grew faster than sales agreed, leaving more than 95,000 July listings still searching for a buyer.
“The market hasn’t fallen over. But it has become considerably less forgiving. Agents who know their patch and can back it with data are going to win more valuation conversations this autumn. In a market where buyers have more choice, the first price increasingly matters more than the eventual price reduction.”
