Buyer demand rose 5% in early September, but remained below last year

What happened

Buyer demand rose by 5% in the first week of September 2026, according to Rightmove, as households resumed property searches after the summer holidays. Its report, published on 9 September 2026, showed a sharper seasonal increase than usual. However, the portal said demand remained below the level recorded a year earlier.

Rightmove put the average increase for the equivalent week over the previous five years at 0.4%. That makes the latest rise substantially larger than its recent seasonal benchmark. The comparison measures the change around the start of September, rather than growth across the whole month or the year.

London recorded the largest regional increase identified in the report, at 9%, followed by the South West at 8%. Rightmove said the West Midlands and North East each recorded increases of around 7%. These figures describe how quickly demand increased, not which region had the greatest total number of prospective buyers.

Rightmove interpreted the figures as evidence that people returned to their moving plans more quickly than usual when schools reopened. It linked the timing to households settling back into their regular routines. The report did not provide a breakdown showing how much of the increase came from first-time buyers, existing homeowners or other purchasers.

For sellers, the important distinction is between renewed interest and a completed transaction. The release reported buyer demand, not the number of homes sold or the prices ultimately paid. It therefore offers evidence of an early-autumn improvement in activity, but does not establish that homes became easier to sell at their advertised prices.

The background

Rightmove described summer holidays as a familiar interruption to moving plans, with exceptionally hot weather adding to the distractions in 2026. Its five-year comparison provides some context for that seasonal pattern. A rise after the holidays is not unusual in its data; the size of this particular increase was what stood out.

The portal also identified the Iran war and the arrival of a new Prime Minister as factors affecting buyer demand during the year. It did not quantify their individual effects or separate them from weather and holiday disruption. Those explanations should therefore be read as Rightmove’s assessment of the backdrop, rather than a measured account of what caused each change.

A short-term increase and a year-on-year decline can happen at the same time because they use different starting points. Demand can recover from a quieter summer week while still falling short of the equivalent period a year earlier. Rightmove’s release did not state the percentage gap between demand in early September 2026 and the previous year.

The publication date also matters when using these figures to make a moving decision. This was an early-September snapshot, not a report on conditions as at 20 October 2026. The subsequent Rightmove report on October asking prices covers a different indicator and a later period; it should not be treated as part of the same measurement.

Asking prices, buyer interest and achieved sale prices answer different questions about the market. An asking price is the seller’s starting position, while an agreed price reflects a negotiation with a purchaser. Separate reporting on Propertymark’s findings about homes selling below asking price is relevant to that distinction, rather than proof that September’s demand increase changed buyers’ bargaining power.

Read moreRightmove asking prices: cheaper regions fall as mortgage costs bite

What people are saying

Colleen Babcock, Rightmove’s property expert, welcomed the early-September improvement but kept the annual comparison in view. She said: “buyer demand remains below last year's level”. Her assessment was that the return of buyers was encouraging after a summer affected by both holidays and spells of unusually hot weather.

Babcock did not present the opening week as confirmation of a sustained autumn recovery. Instead, she said Rightmove would watch whether the improvement continued over the following weeks. That distinction limits what can reasonably be concluded from the release: it identified a stronger start, not an established longer-term trend.

Hollie Whittaker, founder of Yorkshire estate agency Block & Brick, reported a similar change in her business. She said requests to view homes had started to increase and buyers were resuming their searches as families returned to school routines. Her comments offered an agency-level account of activity, rather than a separate numerical measure of the national market.

Whittaker also reported an increase in daily online views of the agency’s properties. She expected buyer activity to strengthen further during September, but that was a forecast made at the time of publication. The source supplied no figures for the increase in views or viewing requests, and no later results testing that expectation.

What happens next

The immediate question identified by Rightmove was whether the first week’s improvement would persist. Establishing that would require observations from subsequent weeks, rather than extending the opening-week percentage across the autumn. This release contained no full-month September result and no evidence about October buyer demand.

For a seller considering an asking price, the regional figures provide background rather than a valuation of an individual home. Local comparable properties, the home’s condition and feedback from viewings remain relevant to that decision. A 9% increase in London buyer demand does not imply a 9% increase in the value of a London property.

Sellers can also distinguish between online attention, requests for appointments and offers when discussing progress with their agent. Whittaker’s comments covered the first two stages, but did not give an offer total. The separate report on asking-price reductions across concluded listings examines another aspect of selling: whether an initial price is maintained during marketing.

For buyers using a mortgage, a busier search market does not determine what a lender will offer them. Borrowing depends on individual circumstances and the terms available when they apply. Reporting on mortgage deals lasting 13 days addresses the separate task of comparing finance in October, rather than measuring September’s appetite to move.

Finally, renewed searching does not remove the practical stages between finding a home and completing a purchase. Mortgage approval where needed, legal checks and any survey still have to be addressed. Rightmove’s early-September release did not track those stages, so it cannot show how many of the returning buyers ultimately completed a move.

Why this matters

Rightmove’s figures give sellers evidence that buyers resumed their searches after summer, but not a reason on their own to raise an asking price. For buyers, the increase does not establish that affordability improved or that competition intensified around a particular home. The useful distinction is between a stronger seasonal start and a sustained recovery: demand remained below the previous year, and this release did not show how many searches became offers or completed purchases.