{"id":22108,"date":"2026-09-23T10:28:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T09:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/?p=22108"},"modified":"2026-09-23T10:28:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T09:28:16","slug":"home-searches-hit-a-yearly-high-as-uk-price-growth-cools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/london-property-market\/home-searches-hit-a-yearly-high-as-uk-price-growth-cools\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Searches Hit a Yearly High as UK Price Growth Cools"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For Hong Kong buyers and investors considering London property, the latest UK market figures point to an interesting shift. Buyer interest is growing, but house price growth is slowing, while the number of homes available for sale has reached its highest level in 12 years.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, buyers may have more choice and greater room to negotiate as we move towards the autumn market.<\/p>\n<h2>What changed in August 2026?<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Home-Searches-Hit-a-Yearly-High.webp\" alt=\"Home searches\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-22111\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Home-Searches-Hit-a-Yearly-High.webp 1200w, https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Home-Searches-Hit-a-Yearly-High-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Home-Searches-Hit-a-Yearly-High-1024x576.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Home-Searches-Hit-a-Yearly-High-768x432.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>According to Zoopla, searches for homes increased by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zoopla.co.uk\/discover\/property-news\/house-price-index\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">7% year-on-year<\/a> in August, the highest level recorded over the past 12 months. At the same time, UK house price growth slowed to 0.9%, down from 1.3% a month earlier.<\/p>\n<p>There is also more property to choose from. Housing supply rose by 5% year-on-year, reaching a 12-year high. For overseas buyers, particularly those looking at London from Hong Kong, this could mean more opportunities to compare locations, property types and asking prices before making a decision.<\/p>\n<p>The average UK home is now priced at \u00a3364,999, while the average London property stands at \u00a3646,541.<\/p>\n<h2>More choice is putting pressure on London sellers<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rightmove.co.uk\/news\/content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Rightmove-HPI-17th-August-2026.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Rightmove&#8217;s August figures<\/a> reinforce the changing market conditions. The number of homes available for sale has reached a 12-year high, increasing competition among sellers and encouraging more realistic pricing.<\/p>\n<p>Average asking prices fell by 2% month-on-month across the UK, while London saw the sharpest annual decline, at 3.1%. Even with the recent market cooling, London is still in a league of its own, prices remain roughly 77% higher than the national average. For Hong Kong investors, though, this dip could signal a smart entry point.<\/p>\n<p>A market with more supply and less upward price pressure can give buyers greater scope to negotiate, particularly when looking at properties where sellers are keen to complete.<\/p>\n<h2>East London continues to show resilience<\/h2>\n<p>Not every part of London is moving in the same direction. Several boroughs continued to record modest price growth in August, with East London showing particular resilience.<\/p>\n<div class=\"table-responsive mb20\">\n<table class=\"press-table textfLeft table-fixed font-14 w-100\" border=\"1\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"bg-table-blue\">\n<th style=\"text-align: center;\">Borough<\/th>\n<th>Average Price<\/th>\n<th>Monthly Change<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Tower Hamlets<\/td>\n<td>\u00a3571,944<\/td>\n<td>+0.7%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Newham<\/td>\n<td>\u00a3463,388<\/td>\n<td>+0.4%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Hillingdon<\/td>\n<td>\u00a3566,226<\/td>\n<td>+0.2%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Hackney<\/td>\n<td>\u00a3730,837<\/td>\n<td>+0.1%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>For investors, these differences highlight why choosing the right London location matters. City-wide averages can only tell part of the story, while factors such as transport links, employment hubs, regeneration and tenant demand can influence how individual areas perform.<\/p>\n<h2>Mortgage costs remain a consideration<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bank-of-england.webp\" alt=\"Bank of England\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-21764\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bank-of-england.webp 1200w, https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bank-of-england-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bank-of-england-1024x576.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bank-of-england-768x432.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Bank of England held its base rate at 3.75% at its July MPC meeting, although inflation has since risen to 2.9%. Meanwhile, Rightmove reported that the average two-year fixed mortgage rate increased from 4.95% to 5.09%.<\/p>\n<p>Higher borrowing costs remain an important consideration for buyers. If you\u2019re investing from Hong Kong, looking at the sticker price is only half the picture. The real strategy comes down to factoring in mortgage costs, taxes, property management fees, and long-term rental yields.<\/p>\n<h2>What does this mean for Hong Kong buyers?<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/london-home.webp\" alt=\"London homes\" width=\"936\" height=\"526\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-22112\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/london-home.webp 936w, https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/london-home-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/london-home-768x432.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>For Hong Kong buyers and investors, the current market offers a little more breathing room than earlier in the year. With home searches up and the number of properties for sale at a 12-year high, buyers have more choice and may have more room to negotiate on the right property.<\/p>\n<p>London, however, continues to attract international buyers thanks to its strong employment market, world-class universities, transport network and established rental demand. For overseas buyers, these fundamentals remain important when looking beyond short-term price movements.<\/p>\n<p>Seeing a neighbourhood in person can offer a very different perspective. In August, our Hong Kong team travelled to London for an exclusive neighbourhood walk and site visit at Colindale Gardens, where clients could explore the area first-hand and get a closer look at the development and what surrounds it.<\/p>\n<p>Our Hong Kong team will continue to share the latest London property news, market insights and opportunities. If you are considering <a href=\"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/services\/london-property-buying\/\">buying<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/services\/london-property-selling\/\">selling<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/services\/london-property-letting\/\">letting a London property from Hong Kong<\/a>, our property experts can help you navigate the market and make a decision that fits your property goals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For Hong Kong buyers and investors considering London property, the latest UK market figures point to an interesting shift. Buyer interest is growing, but house price growth is slowing, while the number of homes available for sale has reached its highest level in 12 years. In other words, buyers may have more choice and greater &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/london-property-market\/home-searches-hit-a-yearly-high-as-uk-price-growth-cools\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Home Searches Hit a Yearly High as UK Price Growth Cools&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[451],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-london-property-market"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>UK Property Market 2026: More Choice for London Buyers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover what August 2026 UK property trends mean for Hong Kong buyers, with rising home searches, slower price growth and more properties for sale.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/london-property-market\/home-searches-hit-a-yearly-high-as-uk-price-growth-cools\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK Property Market 2026: More Choice for London Buyers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Discover what August 2026 UK property trends mean for Hong Kong buyers, with rising home searches, slower price growth and more properties for sale.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/london-property-market\/home-searches-hit-a-yearly-high-as-uk-price-growth-cools\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Benham and Reeves Hong Kong\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-23T09:28:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/thumbnail-london-home.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Benham and Reeves\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@benhamandreeves\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@benhamandreeves\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Benham and Reeves\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UK Property Market 2026: More Choice for London Buyers","description":"Discover what August 2026 UK property trends mean for Hong Kong buyers, with rising home searches, slower price growth and more properties for sale.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/london-property-market\/home-searches-hit-a-yearly-high-as-uk-price-growth-cools\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"UK Property Market 2026: More Choice for London Buyers","og_description":"Discover what August 2026 UK property trends mean for Hong Kong buyers, with rising home searches, slower price growth and more properties for sale.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/london-property-market\/home-searches-hit-a-yearly-high-as-uk-price-growth-cools\/","og_site_name":"Benham and Reeves Hong Kong","article_published_time":"2026-09-23T09:28:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/thumbnail-london-home.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Benham and Reeves","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@benhamandreeves","twitter_site":"@benhamandreeves","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Benham and Reeves","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/london-property-market\/home-searches-hit-a-yearly-high-as-uk-price-growth-cools\/","url":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/london-property-market\/home-searches-hit-a-yearly-high-as-uk-price-growth-cools\/","name":"UK Property Market 2026: More Choice for London Buyers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/london-property-market\/home-searches-hit-a-yearly-high-as-uk-price-growth-cools\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/london-property-market\/home-searches-hit-a-yearly-high-as-uk-price-growth-cools\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/thumbnail-london-home.webp","datePublished":"2026-09-23T09:28:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/478f2948e1ca24a24bafe682033dab98"},"description":"Discover what August 2026 UK property trends mean for Hong Kong buyers, with rising home searches, slower price growth and more properties for sale.","inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/london-property-market\/home-searches-hit-a-yearly-high-as-uk-price-growth-cools\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/london-property-market\/home-searches-hit-a-yearly-high-as-uk-price-growth-cools\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/thumbnail-london-home.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/thumbnail-london-home.webp","width":500,"height":300,"caption":"London homes"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/","name":"Benham and Reeves Hong Kong","description":"Just another WordPress site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/478f2948e1ca24a24bafe682033dab98","name":"Benham and Reeves","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ea42b4e2673ec4fe437aad6635ca4928239400431649b6f54fff78de3344b7eb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ea42b4e2673ec4fe437aad6635ca4928239400431649b6f54fff78de3344b7eb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Benham and Reeves"},"description":"With over 60 years of experience in London market, Benham and Reeves offers a comprehensive one-stop service which includes London property sales (purchase and selling) and full letting and management services to investors. Benham and Reeves Hong Kong SAR office was established in 1995 to provide real estate agency services to Hong Kong buyers, sellers and landlords in regards to all their London property needs.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.benhams.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22108"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22115,"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22108\/revisions\/22115"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com.hk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}