Zoopla says three in five homes for sale remain unsold
High mortgage costs left three in five listed homes unsold, with two-thirds of small flats still sitting and sales weakest in Wales and the East Midlands.
Elevated mortgage costs have left three in five homes listed for sale since January still on the market, with agreed sales running 7% below a year ago. The squeeze is hitting first-time buyers hardest, while smaller properties are piling up unsold even as some parts of the market keep moving.
The pressure intensified in April, when the average two-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 4.83% at the start of March to a peak of 5.90% on 12 April before easing to 5.54%. Zoopla data put that jump at an average of £125 a month to a typical mortgage at its peak compared with January, and £232 a month for the average first-time buyer in London.
That cost shock helped push buyer demand in the UK down 15% compared with a year earlier through the end of May. Bank of England figures show mortgage approvals for house purchases fell to 56,200 in May 2026, down from 66,000 in April and the lowest level in two-and-a-half years.
The slowdown has not been evenly spread. Sales were down 12% in Wales and 11% in the East Midlands, while the pace of sales for two- and three-bedroom homes showed little change. By contrast, two-thirds of one- and two-bedroom flats listed this year were still unsold.
Correctly priced homes are selling while overpriced homes are sitting. Richard Donnell, Zoopla’s executive director, linked the pattern to falling rates, more homes for sale than a year ago and motivated sellers willing to negotiate.
In January, the average five-year fixed rate on a 75% loan-to-value mortgage had dropped to 4%, its lowest level since 2022, and the total number of homes for sale was 6% higher than a year earlier. Zoopla data put the average UK house price at £269,800 at the end of 2025, up 1.2% over 12 months, or £3,200.
Zoopla’s separate research in May found that 44% of UK homes listed for sale in the past three years failed to sell, based on a survey of more than 2,000 adults who had tried to sell in that period. Overambitious pricing was the biggest reason homes stayed on the market, and 53% of unsuccessful sellers said cutting the asking price was the only way to attract a buyer.
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