This is our regular look at the facts and figures behind the Gloucester property market last month and offer our thoughts and observations on what this means and what may lie ahead.
House Prices
The average asking price of newly listed homes for sale dropped by 2.0% (-£7,360) last month to £364,999, the largest August drop since 2018.
In Gloucester the average asking price of properties coming to the market was £295,632 which is a year-on-year increase of 1% but slightly down on the figure for July. Across Gloucestershire the average asking price is down year on year by 0.5% and stands at £402,460.
Across Gloucester’s postcodes of GL1, 2, 3 and 4 there were 238 price reductions through the month of July. Once again in Gloucester, one agency accounted for over 26% of those reductions suggesting a high number of inflated valuations were given initially. A tactic often used to simply win your business. The same agent has a standard 3-month notice period written in to its terms of business so be careful not to just go with the highest price when choosing your estate agent.
Sellers who are taking the advice of some estate agents and Rightmove, and entering the market at competitive prices, are giving themselves a much higher probability of selling.
Buyers have the widest choice of homes for sale at this time of year in more than a decade, so standing out on price for the right reasons is hugely important. While no seller likes to come to market lower than they might have hoped, Recent analysis shows that those who price realistically are statistically proven to be giving themselves the strongest chance of finding a buyer and successfully completing a move.
We would suggest that when considering lower offers on your home, you should also look to make a lower offer on your onwards purchase, to see if you can make up the difference. If the differential remains the same then buying and selling at a lower price will make you better off overall.
Properties for sale
Buyer activity is on average 10% down on this time last year however the attraction of more competitive pricing amongst sellers could lead to a busy Autumn.
Properties in Gloucester are currently taking on average 46 days to sell, up 4 on last year, but quicker than the first half of 2026. Gloucester remains in the top 5 of England’s fastest selling major cities.
August saw sales agreed on 299 properties across GL1, GL2, GL3 and GL4 slightly higher than the 294 for the same period last year.
The number of homes currently available across the UK remains at a 15 year high and it certainly remains a buyers’ market. As of 31st August, there were 1155 properties unsold across the four Gloucester postcodes. At the same time in 2025 there 1130 unsold properties across GL1, GL2, GL3, GL4.
For those who are regular readers of our blogs, you will not be surprised that the estate agent with the highest number of price reductions and lengthy notice period also had 245 unsold properties at the end of August. Are you one of those sellers stuck in limbo and stuck in a contract you cannot get out of?
Of the 1155 properties unsold on the Gloucester property market at the end of August, 698 had been on the market for at least 8 weeks, whilst 539 of those had been on the market unsold for 12 weeks or more.
If we delve a little deeper then it shows 502 (43%) of the properties are priced at £250,000 or less, 408 (35%) of the properties are priced between £250,000 and £400,000, 102 (9%) are priced between £400,000 and £500,000 with 144 (13%) priced over half a million pounds.
Mortgages
A global bond market sell-off has driven UK government borrowing costs sharply upwards. This has also fed through to swap rates, which lenders use when pricing fixed-rate mortgages.
Five-year swap rates climbed above 4.5% this week, reaching their highest level since October 2023. Two-year swaps have also risen sharply.
The movements increase the prospect of lenders repricing mortgage products upwards in the coming days and weeks and there will be plenty of interest in the Bank of England’s latest monetary policy meeting later this week.
Low-deposit mortgage lending has reached its highest share in 18 years as buyers increasingly rely on higher loan-to-value borrowing.
New Bank of England figures show 8.4% of gross mortgage advances were above 90% loan-to-value (LTV) in the second quarter of 2026. That was up from 8% during the previous quarter and 7% a year earlier. It also marks the highest proportion since the second quarter of 2008.
Following on from last month is news that lenders continue to look for more and more ways to help peoples affordability and we will look at this in more detail in a dedicated article in the coming days.
Summary
The new Prime Minster has brought a general boost to optimism and has definitively ruled out property tax changes in October’s Budget, meaning buyers have fewer reasons to wait around and see what happens.
While it is still early days, it gives some encouragement that after a subdued summer, where several heatwaves and the World Cup provided added distractions, the market could see a busier than usual Autumn.
There remains plenty of choice for buyers and anybody looking for property should make sure they are maximising their search options - increase your budget by a price band or two and widen your search area (how a postcode trick can save you thousands is an article coming soon).
Sellers must continue to balance price ambition and market realism to give yourselves the best chance of finding a buyer and getting your home sold.
Choose your estate agent wisely. Are you being lulled in by an over inflated asking price, given to you by an agent who is only interested in winning your business rather than selling your home?
As always, we appreciate your thoughts and comments on the Gloucester property market and are happy to answer any questions you have or provide any assistance with your home moving plans.
📞 01452 260993
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