Letting & Estate Agent Podcast

By Christopher WatkinBusiness

Letting & Estate Agent Podcast episodes

August 21 UK Property Market Stats Show - Week 32 2026 - Ep.2615
UK Property Market Bounces Back After Last Week’s Summer Wobble
After last week’s unexpected drop in sales agreed, the UK property market has bounced back. 24,435 homes went sold subject to contract in Week 32, up from around 21,700 the week before and much closer to where we would expect the market to be at this point in August. The evidence increasingly suggests last week’s fall may simply have been the summer slowdown arriving slightly earlier than usual, rather than anything more sinister.
Yet beneath that headline, the market remains brutally price sensitive. Around half the homes leaving estate agents’ books are still withdrawing unsold, while four out of five homes listed and sold so far in 2026 achieved that sale without needing a price reduction. The message is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore, getting the pricing strategy right from the beginning matters enormously.
This week I am joined by Iain White, one of the property industry’s most experienced operators, to dissect the numbers and discuss where estate agents are getting it right and wrong. Then we head to Oxford, where we use cold, hard data to compare its estate agents on market share, exchanges, withdrawals, pricing, fall-throughs and the prices they actually achieve for their sellers and see who is the best Estate Agent in the City.
The main stats for UK Property Market Stats for week 32, week ending 16th August 2026.
🟩   Listings
Week 32 ..
32.6k new listings this week, (31.5k last week).
Weekly 2026 average : 36.4k.
10 year week 30 average : 33k
Year to Date
1.166m new listings YTD
0.3% lower than 2025 YTD (1.169m)
3.2% ahead of 2024 YTD (1.130m)
10.5% higher than the 2017–19 average YTD (1.059m).
🟩 UK Gross Resi Sales
Week 32 ..
24.4k homes sold stc this week 32 (21.8k last week)
10 year week 32 average : 25.2k
2026 weekly average : 24.6k.
Year to Date for house sales
786k UK homes sold stc YTD
7.1% lower than 2025 YTD (846k)
0.7% lower to 2024 YTD (792k)
10.8% higher than 2023 YTD (709k)
6% higher above pre Covid 2017-19 years (742k).
Decade average - 784k YTD
🟩 UK Net Resi Sales YTD
(Net Sales being Gross Sales less Sale Fall Thrus).
Week 32
18.2k Net Sales (16.9k last week)
10 year Week 32 average: 19.1k.
Weekly average for 2026: 19.1k.
Year to Date
609k UK net home sales YTD
5.7% lower than 2025 (647k),
0.4% lower than 2024 (612k),
13.5% ahead of 2023 (537k)
4.2% above the 2017–19 average (585k).
🟩   Exchanges & Withdrawals
•           79.6k Exchanges in July 2026 (note this figure will rise during August as more exchanges get reported).
•          76.3k Withdrawals in July 2026 – again, this figure will increase as more July withdrawals come thru the system throughout August
•           Therefore, in July 2026, only 51% of homes that left agents’ books exchanged & completed in July (the rest - 49% withdrew, unsold)
•     57.6% is the 7 year average exchange to listings ratio (which includes the crazy years post lockdown 18 months).
🟥 Want more in-depth analysis on these stats ??
Watch this week’s episode (week 32) of the ‘UK Property Market Stats Show’ with Iain White eon YouTube here …
https://youtu.be/kEJkCxSpnCY
55 min
August 20 Estate Agents - The 5 Things holding you Back - Ep. 2614
At the 3rd Letting and Estate Agent Conference in Grantham, John Cottrell, talks about The 5 Things holding Estate/Letting Agents back in life
John Cottrell - Voted Action Coach's (Action Coach - the World's No.1 Business Coach Franchise) Best Executive Business Coach for Europe, Middle East and Asia 2016
This guy knows his onions!
52 minutes long - prepare to be interested, intrigued and educated!
53 min
August 19 Having the courage to lose a listing - Ep. 2613
When should you walk away from a listing? I sit down with Paul Sloan to discuss why saying no to the wrong instructions can strengthen your agency, improve profitability, and help you win better clients by staying true to your principles.
8 min
August 18 The PRS Database in the Renters Rights Act - Ep. 2612
Are you ready for the new Private Rented Sector database? I sit down with Suzanne Smith from The Independent Landlord to explore what the Register Your Rental Property scheme means for landlords and letting agents, including compliance requirements, registration challenges, potential £7,000 penalties, and how agencies could turn the process into a valuable paid service.
11 min
August 17 When a Self-Employed Agent fails, who's to blame? - Ep. 2611
When a self-employed estate agent falls short, who’s responsible? I spoke with Lee O’Brien from IAD UK about accountability, lead generation, valuations and why success often comes down to the person in the mirror. Listen to the full episode and share your thoughts.
4 min
August 14 UK Property Market Stats Show - Week 31 2026 - Ep.2610
The biggest talking point in the UK property market this week is the 11% drop in sales agreed from last week. Some summer softening is perfectly normal, but the size of this week's fall was slightly unexpected, particularly after the previous two weeks had been unusually strong and had bucked the normal seasonal trend.
So, is this simply the summer holidays finally catching up with the market, or are we seeing the start of something more significant? One week certainly does not make a trend, especially after those two stronger weeks, but it is exactly the sort of movement that estate agents, sellers and buyers should be watching closely.
This week I am joined by Ian McKenzie from The Guild of Property Professionals to dig beneath the headline numbers in the YouTube video report. We look at listings, stock levels, price reductions, sales agreed, exchanges and withdrawals, before heading to Eastbourne to put its estate agents under the microscope using cold, hard performance data.
The main stats for UK Property Market Stats for week 31, week ending 9th August 2026.
🟩   Listings
Week 31 ..
31.5k new listings this week, (32.8k last week).
Weekly 2026 average : 36.6k.
10 year week 30 average : 33.2k
Year to Date
1.113m new listings YTD
0.3% lower than 2025 YTD (1.137m)
3.4% ahead of 2024 YTD (1.096m)
10.7% higher than the 2017–19 average YTD (1.020m).
🟩 UK Gross Resi Sales
Week 31 ..
21.8k homes sold stc this week 31 (24.7k last week)
10 year week 31 average : 25.4k
2026 weekly average : 24.6k.
Year to Date for house sales
762k UK homes sold stc YTD
7.3% lower than 2025 YTD (821k)
0.7% lower to 2024 YTD (767k)
10.6% higher than 2023 YTD (689k)
6% higher above pre Covid 2017-19 years (718k).
Decade average - 758k YTD
🟩 UK Net Resi Sales YTD
(Net Sales being Gross Sales less Sale Fall Thrus).
Week 30
16.9k Net Sales (19k last week)
10 year Week 31 average: 19k.
Weekly average for 2026: 19.1k.
Year to Date
591k UK net home sales YTD
5.7% lower than 2025 (627k),
0.4% lower than 2024 (594k),
13.2% ahead of 2023 (523k)
4.2% above the 2017–19 average (567k).
🟩   Exchanges & Withdrawals
•           65.5k Exchanges in July 2026 (note this figure will rise during August as more exchanges get reported. On past trends, expect that to end on mid/ late 70k’s
•          63.4k Withdrawals in July 2026 – again, this figure will increase as more July withdrawals come thru the system throughout August
•           Therefore, in July 2026, only 50.8% of homes that left agents’ books exchanged & completed in July (the rest - 49.2% withdrew, unsold)
•     57.6% is the 7 year average exchange to listings ratio (which includes the crazy years post lockdown 18 months).
🟥 Want more in-depth analysis on these stats ??
Watch this week’s episode (week 31) of the ‘UK Property Market Stats Show’ with Iain McKenzie from The Guild on YouTube here …
https://youtu.be/j9zaCOfQ_GI
1 hr 7 min
August 13 Self-Employed Agency is just a poorly paid job - Ep. 2609
I sat down with Lucy Joerin to discuss whether self-employed estate agency truly offers freedom and flexibility, or simply longer hours for less reward. We explore lead generation, discipline, outsourcing, and why treating yourself as a business is key to long-term success.
10 min
August 12 Do agency conferences actually help agents? - Ep. 2608
Are estate agency conferences still worth attending, or have they become more about selling than learning? I’m joined by Jerry Lyons and Nick Cheshire from The Ethical Estate Agent Network to discuss practical education, supplier led events, fresh industry voices and how conferences can deliver greater value for estate agents.
13 min
August 11 How long should a sole agency agreement be? - Ep. 2607
How long should a sole agency agreement really last? I’m joined by Teddy Kleindienst to debate whether agents should earn the right to keep an instruction through great service rather than lengthy contracts, and what a fair agreement looks like for sellers and estate agents alike.
6 min
August 10 The best Estate Agents sell houses the rest recruit - Ep. 2606
Are the best self-employed estate agents selling homes or simply recruiting? I’m joined by Ian Macbeth, co-founder of Advocado, to unpack the self-employed trend, the dangers of overselling the dream, and why honest expectations, real case studies, and transparency matter more than ever.
6 min