UK Property Market 2026. Week 3. Momentum building.

We are still only three weeks into 2026, so caution is still required. This is not the moment for sweeping forecasts, but it is the moment to pay attention to what is quietly firming up beneath the surface.

The same health warning on year on year comparisons still applies. Early 2025 was turbocharged by the spring Stamp Duty deadline, pulling demand forward and distorting the baseline. Against that inflated backdrop, 2026 continues to run slightly behind the same point last year, which remains entirely logical now that the incentive has gone.

But once again, that comparison only tells part of the story.

When you step back and compare Week 3 of 2026 with more representative years, the tone changes. Sales agreed are comfortably ahead of Week 3 2024, stronger than 2023, and materially above pre Covid norms. This is not a hesitant market. It is one where buyers are turning intent into action.

In Week 3 alone, 24,581 homes went Sold STC, well ahead of the ten year Week 3 average of 23.4k. That matters. It tells us buyers are not just browsing, they are committing, and doing so without the nudge of a tax deadline.

Supply is also playing its part. New listings hit 35,190 last week, up on the prior week and running ahead of both the long term average and recent years. Buyers have choice, which is healthy. Yet despite that, prices continue to edge higher, with house prices up 0.6%. That combination points to balance, not froth.

So yes, it is still early.
Yes, comparisons with early 2025 remain skewed.

But strip out the distortion, and Week 3 reinforces the same message as Week 2. Sales activity is running well ahead of normal years, supply is strong, prices are holding firm, and demand is being driven by genuine buyer confidence rather than artificial stimulus.

That is not noise. That is a signal.