In this week’s UK Property Market Stats Show, I’m joined by Ben Madden to break down the market for the week ending Sunday 19 April 2026 (week 15).
In the second half, we turn to Poole, analysing which estate and letting agents are performing best—and why.
Even if you’re not based in Poole, the analysis will be familiar territory for agents dealing with overvaluing rivals or fee-cutting competitors. We look at practical ways to evidence performance, win instructions, and justify stronger fees.
🟩 Listings YTD
553k new properties have come onto the market YTD
0.5% below of 2025 YTD, 7.4% above 2024 YTD, and 16.7% higher than the 2017–19 average YTD
🟧Gross Residential Sales YTD
368k UK homes sold STC YTD
6.7% lower than 2025 YTD (368k) , 5.1% higher than 2024 YTD (350k), 16.1% higher than 2023 YTD (297k) and 12.1% higher above pre Covid norms (303k).
🟩 Net Resi Sales YTD
288k UK net home sales YTD (Net Sales being Gross sales less Fall Thrus).
4.5% lower than 2025 (301k), 4.7% ahead of 2024 (275k), 18.2% ahead of 2023 (243k) and 8.9% above the 2017–19 average (264k).
🟥 Exchanges YTD
214k UK Exchanges to the end of March 2026
13% lower than middle of March 2025, when it was 246k.
Note – There were more exchanges in Q1 2025 because of the stamp duty holiday finished in April 2025
🟥 Overvaluing
47% of the homes that left UK Estate Agents books in March were withdrawn unsold. Main cause – blatant overvaluing supported by long sole agency agreements of 20+ weeks.
Detailed Breakdown …
Remember, this is the first post Easter week, so there are big jumps in most of the figures
✅ New Listings
• 41k new properties came onto market this week (week 15), up from 32.2k last week.
• 2025 weekly average: 30.6k.
• 10-year week 14 average : 31.9k.
✅ Price Reductions
• 25.6k reductions this week, down from 20.5k last week.
• 13.2% of resi homes for sale were reduced in March. Mar 25 – 13.4%. Mar 24 – 12.2%
• 2025 average was 12.8%, versus the 6-year long-term average of 10.7%.
✅ Sales Agreed
• 26.1k homes sold stc this week 15, up from 20.5k last week.
• Week 15 average (for last 10 years which includes the post pandemic boom) : 24k
• 2026 weekly average : 24.4k.
✅ Sell-Through Rate
• 15.5% of homes on agents’ books went SSTC in March ’26. (March ’25 – 16.3% / March ’24 – 17.2%)
• Pre-Covid average: 15.5%.
✅ Price Difference between Listings & Sales
• 25.8% difference (long term 10 year average is 16% to 17%). (£451k ave Listing Ave Asking price vs £359k Sale Agreed ave Asking price).
✅ Fall-Throughs
• 5,927 fall-throughs last week (pipeline of 453k home Sold STC).
• Weekly average of fall thrus for the whole of 2025: 6.1k and 5.3k in 2026 YTD
• Fall-through rate (Fall thru expressed as a % of the Gross sales that week): 25.8%, the up from last weeks 22.5%.
• Long-term average: 24.5% (post-Truss chaos saw levels exceed 40%).
• 5.1% of all the sales agreed in Estate Agent’s Sales pipelines fell thru in March 2026. 2025 average – 5.3% & 10 year average – 5.8%).
✅ Net Sales
• 16k Net Sales, down from 18.5k last week
• Ten-year Week 14 average: 17.8k.
• Weekly average for 2026: 19.1k.
• Weekly average for the whole of 2025: 18.8k.
✅ Probability of Selling (% that Exchange vs withdrawal)
• March ’26 Stats : 53% of homes that left agents’ books exchanged & completed in March. (Note this figure will change throughout the month as more March stats come in).
• 57.6% is the 7 year average (which includes the crazy years post lockdown 18 months)
✅ House Prices (£/sq.ft)
• March ’26 agreed sales averaged £345.64 per sq.ft. 2% higher than 12 months ago (£338.97) and 12.7% than 5 years ago (£306.76). The £/sqft at sale agreed matches the HM Land Registry Index with a 98% accuracy, 5 months in advance. That is why it is so important.
✅ Stock Levels
• 717k homes on the market on the 1st of April ’26. (706k – 1st April 25)
• 453k homes in agent’s sales pipeline on the 1st April 2026, slightly lower than 12 months ago on 1st April ’25 (461k).
✅ UK Rental Data
• Average Rent in March 2026 – £1,740 pcm (£1,747 in March 25)
• 312k UK Rental Stock available to rent in March 26 (313k in March 2025).
✅ Local Focus
Poole
The Biggest Lie Estate Agents Tell Themselves ……
“We lost it on fee.”
No, you probably did not.
You lost it because the homeowner did not believe you were worth the extra.
That is the bit most agents do not want to hear.
A cheap agent is only dangerous when you have failed to prove the financial difference between you and them.
The best agents do not just say, “We get better results.”
They prove it.
They show the homeowner the difference between saving £1,000 on fee and potentially losing £7,000 on the final result.
That is not a fee conversation.
That is a net proceeds conversation.
And the agent who owns that conversation usually owns the instruction.
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Long Sole Agency Agreements Are Hiding Bad Estate Agency … do you agree???
Here is the uncomfortable bit.
A long sole agency agreement does not protect the seller.
It protects the agent.
Because if you have overvalued the home, failed to generate the interest, and then need months to slowly chip away at the asking price, who really benefits from that contract?
Not the homeowner.
The best chance of selling is early.
In the first month, 41.8% of homes that sell find their buyer.
By the end of month two, that rises to 61.7%.
After that?
The odds start moving against the seller.
So ask yourself this my fellow EA’s
.
If your marketing, pricing advice and buyer strategy are strong enough, why do you need to lock someone in for 20, 24 or 26 weeks?
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The Rightmove morning moment nobody talks about
Every estate agent knows this feeling.
You log into Rightmove.
You see the lsiting you won.
You see the one you lost.
Then you see the ones that really hurt.
Then there is the homes you were never even called out to value.
That is the real problem in estate agency.
Not the fee cutter.
Not the overvaluer.
Not the corporate down the road.
The killer is invisibility.
By the time the homeowenr rings 3 agents, the decision has already started.
If your name is not already in their head, you are not losing at the valuation.
You lost months before it.
That is why local property market content matters.
Because homeowners do not choose the agent who posts the most “just listed” photos.
They choose the agent they believe understands the market.
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