Market Comment (April 2026) - An Unusual Month In Property Market
There's no getting around the fact that April has been an unusual month to try to read the property market. The ripple effects of the conflict in the Middle East — higher energy prices, inflation concerns, rising mortgage rates — have introduced a level of uncertainty that nobody was anticipating at the start of the year.
And yet the headline from Rightmove's latest data is not the one many feared: asking prices have risen, buyer activity has held firmer than expected, and the market, while undeniably more complicated than it was in February, has not fallen off a cliff.
That context matters. Here's what we think buyers and sellers in Leytonstone and the wider East London area need to understand right now.
Prices are holding — but the picture is more nuanced than the headline
The average asking price for newly listed homes across Great Britain reached £373,971 in mid-April, up 0.8% on the previous month. That's a meaningful rise in absolute terms, though it sits below the long-term April average of around 1.2% growth. Rightmove's Colleen Babcock described the market as "surprisingly resilient" — and given the backdrop, that feels like a fair assessment rather than spin.
What's also notable is that the number of homes on the market remains at an 11-year high, and the volume of new listings coming through is running 13% ahead of the same period in 2024. That's a significant amount of choice for buyers, and it's keeping a natural ceiling on how far prices can push upward. Agreed sales are running about 3% behind this time last year, but that comparison is distorted by the stamp duty rush of early 2025 — the underlying trend through the first quarter of 2026 has actually been gradually improving since November.
Mortgage rates: the uncomfortable truth
This is where the Iran conflict has had its most direct impact on the property market, and it would be unhelpful to gloss over it. Before hostilities began in late February, the average two-year fixed mortgage rate stood at around 4.25%. By mid-April it had risen to 5.42% — an increase that adds roughly £235 per month to a typical new purchase mortgage compared to pre-war levels.
The Bank of England, which had been widely expected to cut rates earlier this year, is now likely to hold when its Monetary Policy Committee meets later this month, with some market observers not ruling out rate rises if inflation — which reached 3.3% in March — continues to climb.
For buyers, this is a real and significant change in the cost of borrowing. That said, Rightmove note that many buyers are also benefiting from rising wages, lower asking prices than a year ago in some segments, and more flexible lending criteria following last year's FCA review of loan-to-income caps. The picture is uncomfortable but not catastrophic, and those in a position to proceed should take proper independent mortgage advice rather than making assumptions about what they can or can't afford.
London is telling a different story
It's important to be honest about the London-specific picture, because it differs meaningfully from the national one. According to ONS data, the average London house price fell 3.3% in the year to February — the seventh consecutive monthly decline — and Rightmove's April data shows the capital as the only region to record a month-on-month fall in asking prices, down 0.1%.
Much of the steepest decline is concentrated in prime central London — Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Camden — where prices have fallen sharply, driven by the withdrawal of international and high-net-worth buyers responding to tax changes, including the end of the non-dom regime, as well as broader global uncertainty. These are very different markets to East London, and their dynamics don't translate directly to E11 or the surrounding postcodes.
For Leytonstone and the wider area, the more relevant context is this: East London's buyer base is predominantly domestic, driven by people with genuine housing needs — young professionals, growing families, first-time buyers — rather than speculative or investment demand. That makes it more resilient to the kind of sentiment shifts affecting prime central London, though it is not entirely insulated from the broader affordability pressures affecting the capital as a whole.
Supply is up — and that changes the negotiating dynamic
Listings across England have risen 6.3% since the start of the year, with nearly 472,000 homes currently on the market. That's an annual increase of 3.3% compared to March 2025, and it represents a genuine rebalancing after a prolonged period of constrained supply.
For buyers, greater choice is broadly welcome news — particularly for those who found themselves continually outbid or unable to find the right property in previous years. The data suggests buyers are taking a more deliberate, considered approach to decisions, which is entirely rational given the current rate environment.
For sellers, the implication is equally clear: this is not a market where an optimistic asking price will be rescued by a lack of competition. Landmark Information Group's Q1 research noted that activity is building but "not converting at pace," with buyers progressing more selectively and taking longer to move through the transaction process. Properties that are well-presented, sensibly priced and properly prepared for sale are still attracting solid interest. Those that are not are sitting on the market at a time when prolonged exposure is increasingly visible to buyers doing their research.
What this means heading into May
The honest summary is that the market is navigating a genuinely difficult set of external pressures with more composure than might have been expected — but the conditions have shifted, and both buyers and sellers need to approach the coming months with clear eyes.
For buyers: get proper mortgage advice now, understand your actual borrowing position, and don't let rate anxiety paralyse you into inaction if your circumstances genuinely support a move. Those who are prepared and ready to proceed have real negotiating room in the current market.
For sellers: realistic pricing from day one has never mattered more. The buyers are there — but they are well-informed, have plenty of alternatives, and will not overpay for a property that isn't priced to reflect current conditions.
For anyone sitting somewhere in the middle — weighing up whether to buy first or sell first, or simply wondering whether now is sensible at all — we're happy to work through the specifics of your situation with you, without any obligation or pressure.
We make sure you make an informed move
If you would like to learn more about Leytonstone, what the area has to offer, and how to achieve your goals in the local property market, we can help. To arrange an appointment, call us on 020 8558 1147 or send us an email at info@tradingplacesproperty.com
You will find Trading Places Estate and Letting Agents at 46 Church Lane, Leytonstone, London, E11 1HE; and we look forward to assisting you.
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