Property transactions fell by 10.4% in June across every region of the UK, according to data compiled by property analyst Chris Watkin. The decline, the first broad-based monthly drop this year, has prompted familiar questions about the resilience of a market buffeted by geopolitical uncertainty and the lingering effects of tighter monetary policy.
But the headline figure tells only part of the story.
The year-on-year comparison flatters nobody because June 2025 was an unusually active month. Pent-up demand from the spring, combined with a brief window of mortgage rate optimism, drove completions well above trend. Measured against that peak, a 10.4% fall sounds alarming. Measured against 2024, transaction volumes are broadly in line. Against 2023, they’re comfortably ahead.
Chris Watkin, whose weekly tracker has become one of the most closely watched indicators in the sector, acknowledged that sales have “undoubtedly lost momentum year on year” but stressed the importance of context. The market isn’t retreating. It’s cooling from an unsustainable high.
Zoopla’s latest data reveals a counterintuitive trend that deserves more attention than it’s getting. Buyer demand has fallen, yet sales volumes remain healthy. The explanation is straightforward: those still actively searching aren’t window shopping. They’re serious, motivated, and ready to transact.
This pattern is most visible in the North East, where home sales are up 6% on last year despite buyer demand dropping 20%, the sharpest decline of any region. With no increase in available stock, supply is being absorbed quickly, and prices are rising as a result.
London tells a different story. Sales agreed are up 8% year on year, the strongest of any region, but 13% more homes are on the market compared to twelve months ago. That extra choice is keeping price growth subdued. For buyers in the capital, it’s a welcome shift after years of being outbid.
The divergence between regions is striking and increasingly important for anyone trying to read the national picture from a single set of numbers. A market where demand falls but sales rise looks nothing like a market where both are falling together.
HMRC’s provisional figures put UK seasonally adjusted residential transactions at 101,030 in April 2026, down 3% from March’s 103,910. Over the quarter from April to June, however, transactions were approximately 1% higher than the preceding three months, suggesting a market that’s levelling out rather than sliding backwards.
Mortgage approvals paint a more encouraging picture. Bank of England figures show 65,945 purchase approvals in April, up 3.1% month on month and 9% above April 2025. That’s the highest monthly total since January 2025, and it points to a pipeline of completions that should sustain activity through the summer and into early autumn.
The RICS Residential Market Survey for April reinforced the mixed signals. New buyer enquiries remained negative at -34%, though that was an improvement from -40% in March. Agreed sales were flat at -36%. Fresh instructions edged up slightly, but new supply coming to market remains limited.
PropertyMark’s Housing Insights Report for April 2026 confirms the broad picture. Buyer demand is static rather than falling, but the market won’t reward optimistic pricing.
Phil Spencer, founder of Move iQ, was blunt in his assessment. “The vast majority of homes are still achieving below their original asking price, showing that buyers remain value-conscious,” he said. “Pricing accurately is crucial.”
For sellers in Norwich, Great Yarmouth, and across Norfolk and Suffolk, that advice carries particular weight. The East of England has seen steady but unspectacular activity this year, with pricing discipline separating properties that sell within weeks from those that linger for months.
The Iran-US conflict is casting a shadow. Kate Faulkner, writing in The Negotiator, noted that anecdotal reports of negativity around property transactions have increased in recent weeks as the geopolitical situation has escalated.
Conflicts create uncertainty, and uncertainty makes buyers hesitate. The UK property market has weathered geopolitical shocks before without sustained damage, but each new disruption tests confidence afresh. The chronic undersupply of housing stock provides a structural floor beneath prices, yet sentiment can suppress activity for months even when fundamentals remain sound.
For homeowners across the region, the message from this data is one of qualified confidence. Transaction volumes aren’t collapsing. Committed buyers are still in the market. Mortgage approvals are rising.
The Ivybridge Collection’s 324-location property market reports show that local conditions vary considerably even within Norfolk. Towns like Holt and Burnham Market continue to attract lifestyle buyers with less sensitivity to mortgage rates, while more mainstream markets in Attleborough and Wymondham are seeing the kind of cautious, value-driven activity that typifies the national picture.
What matters now isn’t the headline transaction count. It’s whether the buyers in the market are real, and whether sellers are meeting them at the right price. On both counts, the evidence suggests they are.
