3,000 asking prices cut a day. Know your market before you list.
September brought more price cuts than any month in 15 years. On a public listing, buyers can see a cut.
Sellers cut the asking price on more than 3,000 homes a day in September, BBC News reported. open for offer is a pre-market property marketplace, where homeowners find out whether any buyer registers interest before they list.
That order matters more this autumn than it has for years.
The price-cut figures, in four numbers
The figures come from a property portal and were shared with BBC News. They make September the busiest month for price cuts in 15 years.
| Figure | Portal figures reported by BBC News, 19 October 2026 |
|---|---|
| More than 3,000 | asking-price cuts a day in September, on average, in Britain |
| 34% | of listed homes had their price cut in September (the peak was 36%, in September 2023) |
| Nearly 7% | the average cut, close to £21,000 on a typically valued home |
| 119 days against 39 | typical time to find a buyer, after a cut against at one price |
A second portal told the BBC that a quarter of the homes newly listed in September had already been listed within the past year. Six in ten of those came back at a lower price.
A price cut is a correction buyers can see
A reduction does not stay private. A Devon surveyor told the BBC that once a home has been online for months, buyers "can start asking why it has not sold".
One Leicester seller turned down an offer the day after he listed, holding out for a better one that never came. He sold 18 months later, for £30,000 less than his original asking price.
You can cut a price in public, or you can check it first.
Scotland checks the price before the listing
In Scotland, a seller needs a Home Report, which includes an independent valuation, before a home is listed. Figures given to the BBC show 74% of Scottish homes listed between April and June sold within three months, against 30% in London.
The researcher behind those figures put the gap partly down to the Home Report, and partly down to higher prices, stamp duty and owners in the south who don't need to sell. England and Wales have no step like it. A seller here can choose any asking price, and if it is wrong, the correction happens in public.
Can I find out what my home is worth before I list it?
open for offer has a market estimate for any of about 14 million homes we cover in England and Wales. It is a range, built from the home's last recorded Land Registry sale and indexed to today's market.
It is not a surveyor's valuation, and it cannot see inside your home. Treat it as a starting point, not a price, before you commit to a number in public.
You can also see whether any buyer registers interest in your home, without listing it.
Buyers can register interest in your home on its page. It is not listed unless you decide to test the market.
Testing the market lists your home publicly, with no asking price and no board. You never have to accept an offer.
Claiming your home is free.
Testing the market is £9.99 a month, cancel any time.
See your home's market estimate
Related: More homes came to market in September. Fewer buyers came looking.
Where these figures come from
The price-cut, time-to-buyer, relisting and Scotland figures are property portal data reported by BBC News in "Home sellers cut asking prices on 3,000 properties a day", by Kevin Peachey, 19 October 2026. open for offer did not compute them and holds no asking-price data. Market estimate coverage comes from open for offer's own records, 20 October 2026. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Common questions
How many asking prices were cut in September 2026?
More than 3,000 a day on average in Britain, according to property portal figures shared with BBC News. That was the highest monthly total for 15 years, and 34% of listed homes had a price cut.
How long do homes with a price cut take to sell?
In the figures reported by BBC News, homes that had a price cut typically took 119 days to find a buyer, against 39 days for homes listed at one price. The figures do not show that the cut caused the extra time.
Can I find out what my home is worth before I list it?
open for offer has a market estimate for any of about 14 million homes it covers in England and Wales. It is a range, built from the home's last recorded Land Registry sale and indexed to today's market. It is not a surveyor's valuation and it cannot see inside your home. You can also see whether any buyer registers interest without listing.