As an agent in the Southampton property market, I believe it is important to offer local homeowners a balanced and realistic view of both the Southampton and national property markets. Far too often in the last few years, national newspaper and social media headlines have focused on doom and gloom, creating the impression that the housing market is on the verge of collapse. Yet when you look beyond the headlines and examine the actual data, a rather different picture emerges. We are going to compare Q2 2026 against Q2 2025 and Q2 2023. Why? Well, 2025 was deemed to be a good post pandemic market and 2023 was a tough post-pandemic market.
National Homes for Sale
One of the ways to assess the health of the British property market is to look at the number of new properties coming onto the market. In the second quarter of 2026 (April, May and June), 488,933 properties were listed for sale across the UK. Interesting when compared to the 484,974 in Q2 2025 and 411,927 in Q2 2023.
The average asking price of a UK property coming onto the market in Q2 2026 was £447k, compared with £449k in Q2 2025 and £436k in Q2 2023, so not a big change either. The level of new instructions/listings entering the property market is an important barometer of market health.
Yet during the financial crisis of 2008, the number of homes coming onto the market surged tremendously, tsunami like, creating a significant imbalance between supply and demand and contributing to falling house prices. Therefore, whilst monitoring the volume of new listings is an important indication of market conditions, one also needs to measure the number of homes available for sale and the number of homes being sold subject to contract.
National homes on the market and the number of homes sold
The average number of homes for sale in the UK in Q2 2026 was 746,300, very similar to 743,100 in Q2 2025, yet much higher than the levels seen in Q2 2023, when 605,500 UK homes were for sale (for context, it was 1.3m in Q2 2008).
Now, let us look at the demand.
In Q2 2026, 311,678 homes sold subject to contract (STC) across the UK for an average price of £369,256. In Q2 2025, the number of homes sold STC was slightly higher (4.9%) at 327,023, albeit with a very similar average sale price of £366,785. Yet when we look at Q2 2023, only 283,817 homes were sold STC, again with a very similar average sale price of £365,111.
So, on the face of it, Q2 2026 has been better than Q2 2023 for the number of homes sold (STC).
Until one realises that even though there has been a 9.82% increase in UK house sales between Q2 2023 and Q2 2026, the number of homes for sale has increased by 23.3% over the same time frame.
The UK property market is still active and buyers are still buying, but there is a big catch: a smaller proportion of the available properties are finding a buyer. That means sellers are facing much greater competition, and simply coming onto the market is no guarantee of a sale.
In this sort of market, realistic pricing is not merely helpful, it is everything. The homes that are correctly priced from day one are the ones attracting attention, generating viewings and securing buyers, while those launched too high risk becoming part of the growing stock that sits unsold.
So, now, let us look how the Southampton property market has faired over the same period.
Southampton Property Market Specifics
Locally, in Southampton (covering the SO14 to SO19 postcodes)…
Starting with supply of properties coming onto the market, 1,403 new listings came onto the market in Q2 2023, 1,636 in Q2 2025 and 1,584 in Q2 2026. This is a 13% increase in new properties coming onto the market in Q2 2026 compared to Q2 2023 in Southampton.
For the next part of the supply story, we must then look at numbers of Southampton homes on the market. The average number of homes for sale in Q2 2023 was 1,827, in Q2 2025, 2,382 and in Q2 2026, 2,419. Again, a 32% increase in the number of Southampton homes for sale in Q2 2026 compared to Q2 2023.
On the demand side of the equation; 1,060 homes sold STC in Q2 2023, as expected this increased to 1,182 homes sold STC in Q2 2025 and in Q2 in 2026, this dropped to 1,058 Southampton homes sold STC.
So, we’ve had significant increases in the number of Southampton properties coming on the market for sale and the total number of properties for sale, yet a decrease in sales between Q2 2023 and Q2 2026 of 0.2%.
Interesting don’t you think?
Final thoughts for Southampton homeowners thinking of moving
As you can see Southampton performed in a similar fashion to the UK market and whilst the Southampton property market is still moving, home sellers are now competing with far more homes than they were three years ago. That does not mean homes are not selling. They are. However, with only around one in three properties coming to market successfully finding a buyer, realistic pricing has never been more important.
Southampton home sellers who launch at an ambitious figure and hope the market will catch up risk losing valuable time, becoming stale online and eventually having reduced, will more than likely come off the market unsold. (Remember, 80.1% of the homes listed and subsequently sold STC in the UK in 2026 did not have a price reduction). By contrast, the Southampton homes that are priced correctly from the outset are far more likely to attract viewings, generate competition and secure a sale.
Ultimately, decisions about moving home should still be based on personal circumstances rather than market conditions alone. However, anyone thinking of selling in Southampton needs to recognise that this is a competitive and price sensitive market.
If you are considering selling or buying in Southampton, we are always available for a no-obligation conversation and honest advice based on your own circumstances.
