In this blog:
- Is the property market really as bad as the headlines say?
- Prices are falling nationally. Does that mean my home in north Leeds is worth less?
- Is summer actually a good time to sell, or should I wait?
- My home has been on the market for weeks with no offer. What am I doing wrong?
- If I want to complete before Christmas, when do I actually need to start?
- What makes Adair Paxton different from other agents in north Leeds?
Pick up any property news from the last few weeks, and the story looks familiar. Asking prices across the UK fell by 0.6% in June, the biggest June price drop in fourteen years. The number of homes for sale is at a historically high level, and buyers are taking longer over decisions, with more choice and higher borrowing costs giving them less urgency than in previous years.
If you read that and concluded that now is the wrong time to sell your home in North Leeds, that would be an understandable reaction. It would also be the wrong one.
National averages tell you about the national market. They do not tell you about yours.
The UK property market in 2026 is not one market behaving in one way. There are dozens of local markets, each with its own supply and demand, buyer profile and recent price history. When prices fall sharply across southern England and Wales, the national average falls with them. The headlines follow the average.
Prices have fallen across all southern England regions and Wales, while more affordable northern areas are holding up better. Leeds is one of those northern areas. According to the Office for National Statistics, the average house price in Leeds was £244,000 in March 2026, up 2.3% from March 2025. The city has a more affordable base than the south, a stronger local jobs market than most UK cities outside London, and buyer demand that has held up considerably better than the national picture suggests.
The suburbs of north Leeds tell a particularly positive story. Areas like Horsforth, Cookridge, Roundhay, Moortown and Alwoodley continue to attract strong demand from families and professionals who value good schools, green space and easy access to the city centre. These are not areas where buyers disappear in summer. They are areas where the right home, priced and presented properly, finds a buyer.
We are now in the summer market. That is not the same as a closed market.
July and August are quieter than the spring peak. That is the normal seasonal pattern, and it is holding this year. Some buyers are on holiday. Some have paused their search while they enjoy the summer. The overall number of active buyers is lower than it was in April.
But the buyers who are searching in July are not casual browsers. They are motivated. A family that needs to be settled before September’s school term starts is not waiting until autumn. A buyer who accepted an offer on their own home in May needs to find their next property now, not in October. A relocating professional starting a new job in Leeds in September is actively searching today.
These are the buyers who make summer sales happen. The question for any seller is whether their home gives those buyers a compelling reason to choose it. In a market where buyers have more choice than they did a year ago, that question matters more than it used to.
What is actually separating the homes that sell from the ones that do not
Rightmove noted that over a third of new listings are not going on to sell, and that the market is price-sensitive, with buyers looking for the right property at the right price. That figure is not spread evenly across all properties. It is concentrated in homes that are overpriced, poorly presented, or both.
The pattern is consistent. A home that is priced aspirationally, rather than accurately, attracts fewer viewings in its first two weeks. Fewer viewings mean fewer offers. As weeks pass without an offer, the listing starts to look stale to buyers who notice how long it has been sitting there. The longer it sits, the harder it becomes to achieve the price the seller originally wanted. Many of those sellers eventually reduce their price to a figure lower than an accurate appraisal from the start would have suggested.
The homes that sell well this summer are the ones where the seller and their agent have done the work before the listing went live. Honest pricing. Professional photography. A description written for the buyer rather than the seller. Marketing that reaches the right people in the right places rather than simply sitting on a portal and hoping.
The autumn completions are being built right now
There is a practical timing point that many sellers overlook. The completions that happen in October and November, when the market traditionally picks up again after summer, are built on offers agreed in July and August. From offer to completion typically takes three to four months, accounting for solicitors, surveys, mortgage processing and conveyancing.
If your ambition is to be settled in your next home before Christmas, the instruction needs to happen now.
What Adair Paxton brings to a summer sale
We have been selling homes in north Leeds since 1859. Our background as surveyors means our appraisals are grounded in evidence rather than optimism. We will tell you what your home is genuinely worth in this market, which is the figure most likely to attract serious offers rather than the figure most likely to attract a price reduction three months later.
We combine honest market appraisals with professional photography and targeted marketing built around a genuine understanding of North Leeds. Horsforth buyers are often drawn by the commuter links and school catchments. Families searching in Roundhay and Moortown are weighing up space, parks and long-term roots. In Cookridge, it is frequently the combination of character, quiet streets and city access that seals the decision. We know what matters in each of these areas because we work in them every day.
If you are thinking about selling this summer, or if your property is already on the market and not performing as you hoped, we would welcome the conversation. We offer appraisals across North Leeds and will give you a straight answer about where your home sits and what we would do differently.