The total number of property transactions anticipated in the property market in England and Wales has been revised by TwentyCi, down from 1.2 million to 1.13 million – a 6.8% fall compared with 2025, and 2.6% higher than 2024.
The impact of geo-political uncertainty in the Middle East is “feeding into the UK housing market” the data company said, triggering the revised predictions. Sales agreed volumes are down 8.1% in May 2026 compared with May 2025.
Like many commentators, TwentyCi says the conflict has “added a fresh layer of uncertainty to the UK housing market” with energy price increases, rising inflation, and rising mortgage rates. In May, sold subject to contract (SSTC) volumes fell to 109,922 compared with 119,607 the previous year.
However, director Nick Huntley says there are plenty of reasons to remain positive.
“The market remains very resilient. Demand is still nearly 15% higher than in 2023 and remains ahead of 2024 levels despite the ongoing affordability pressures, geopolitical uncertainty and higher mortgage costs. That resilience reflects the determination of committed buyers, who continue to move even as the market conditions become less certain”
The number of new instructions is at its highest ever recorded levels, with 794,210 tracked at the end of May for the year to date, 2.7% ahead of last year. March was a particularly strong month with more than 175,000 new properties coming to market. Fall throughs are also down by 11.1% year-on-year to 115,025.
“The positive story in the market right now is supply levels”, said Huntley. “We’re seeing the highest level of new instructions on record which is good news for buyers, who have more choice than at any point in recent years. What’s equally encouraging is that fewer transactions are failing with the decline in fall-through rates across all price bands suggesting a more determined market.”
Propertymark’s latest Housing Insight Report, covering April, suggests a similar picture. Overall stock levels at member branches increased slightly in the month, with an average of 43 properties for sale. New supply was also slightly up on March, with 12.3 new listings per branch in April. Sales remained steady, with members reporting an average of 8.1 per branch.
Like TwentyCi, the estate agents’ membership and training body reported a slight fall in future demand, with average market appraisal volumes conducted per member branch down slightly to 22.
But in-keeping with the recent report from RICS, PropertyMark has found transaction timescales continue to lengthen, with 43.5% of member agents reporting most of their sales agreed took over 17 weeks to complete. RIC recorded its longest duration since it began measuring sentiment in 2017: an estimated 21.5 weeks nationally.
Propertymark CEO Nathan Emmerson said: “Despite wider economic uncertainty and inflation remaining above target, the housing market continues to demonstrate resilience. While viewing levels softened during April, buyer registrations and sales agreed remained broadly stable, suggesting that committed purchasers are still actively progressing transactions.
“It’s encouraging to see new sales instructions and overall stock levels increase, providing buyers with greater choice. However, affordability challenges remain a key consideration, particularly as higher borrowing costs continue to influence budgets and purchasing decisions.
“With a significant proportion of transactions still taking more than 17 weeks to reach exchange, there remains a clear need for continued improvements to the home buying and selling process.”
