London Property Market 2026: What Rightmove's Own Forecast Means for Your Listing
Rightmove's own December 2025 forecast has London growing slower than the rest of Great Britain next year — here's what that actually means for how a listing needs to compete.
Rightmove's own December 2025 forecast predicts new seller asking prices will rise 2% across Great Britain in 2026, but only 1% in London specifically — Rightmove names London and the south of England as the regions expected to lag the rest of the country on price growth. In a market where London isn't the one doing the heavy lifting on price, a listing has to do more of the work itself to stand out.
In This Guide
- 1.What Rightmove Actually Forecasts for London in 2026
- 2.The Boxing Day Bounce, and the Budget-Pausers Behind It
- 3.Why a Slower Market Raises the Bar on Listing Quality
What Rightmove Actually Forecasts for London in 2026
Rightmove's December 2025 forecast — built on its own data covering over 90% of the market — predicts new seller asking prices will rise 2% across Great Britain in 2026, recovering from an unexpected 0.6% fall in 2025. London is explicitly called out as one of the regions expected to lag: Rightmove forecasts +1% for London against +3% for Scotland and Wales, citing affordability and the local balance of supply and demand as the reason London and the south of England are expected to underperform the rest of the country.
💡Source
Rightmove Press Centre, "Rightmove reveals 2026 market trends as prices predicted to rise by 2%" (December 2025) — rightmove.co.uk/press-centre.
The Boxing Day Bounce, and the Budget-Pausers Behind It
Rightmove's own survey of over 10,000 potential movers found that 1 in 5 were waiting to see the outcome of the Budget before resuming their moving plans — Rightmove expects many of those "Budget-pausers" to become "Boxing Day bouncers," the usual seasonal jump in listing activity that happens once the holidays are over. Practically, that means a real wave of pent-up sellers and buyers returning to the market at once, all competing for attention in the same search results at the same time.
Why a Slower Market Raises the Bar on Listing Quality
When national prices are climbing fast, a mediocre listing can still sell — rising demand papers over a lot of sins. Rightmove's own +1% London forecast, against +2% nationally, describes a market with less of that margin for error. Combined with a wave of pent-up sellers all listing around the same time, a property that doesn't photograph well, doesn't have a proper floor plan, or takes a week longer to reach Rightmove than it should isn't just underperforming — it's losing attention to whichever listing next to it in the search results did those things properly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a 1% forecast for London actually bad?
It's not a decline — Rightmove still forecasts growth for London in 2026, just slower growth than the rest of Great Britain. The point isn't that the London market is struggling, it's that a listing can't rely on rising prices alone to get attention the way it might in a faster-moving market.
Where does this forecast come from?
Directly from Rightmove's own Press Centre, published December 2025, based on Rightmove's own data covering over 90% of the market plus a predictive pricing model. It's Rightmove's forecast, not a third party's interpretation of it.
Written by Zosim
Founder & Lead Property Photographer
Founder of ZM Studio with over 2,400 London properties photographed for independent estate agencies, prime brokers, and Airbnb superhosts.
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