Guides · Estate agents
Monthly market updates for vendors and landlords
A vendor whose home has been on the market for some weeks wants to know what is happening around them. A landlord with several properties wants to know what they are worth. A short monthly update built from completed sales answers both questions.
This guide covers what to put in a monthly update, how to keep it accurate and how to use it when you discuss price with a vendor.
Why a monthly update helps
Sellers often feel that nothing is happening while their home is on the market. A regular update shows them the evidence you are working from and keeps the conversation about price grounded in fact.
It also makes later conversations easier. If you need to discuss a price reduction, the vendor has already seen the recent sales. The discussion is about evidence they know, not a new figure from you.
For a landlord or a past client, a monthly update is a simple record of how their area is moving. When they decide to sell, they already know the evidence and they know your firm.
When the new data arrives
HM Land Registry publishes new Price Paid Data once a month, usually around the 20th working day. A monthly update fits that cycle: each release adds the sales registered since the last one.
The newest month is always incomplete, because sales take two to eight weeks to be registered after completion. Report on the latest month that is close to complete and say which month it is. The guide on why sold prices take months to appear explains the timing.
Checklist
- Median for the district and for the vendor's property type
- Change on the month and on the year
- Recent sales nearby with street, date, price and type
- Number of sales in the period
- Two or three sentences on what moved the median
- The month the figures cover
- Your firm's name and contact details
What to include
Keep it to one page. Give the median price for the postcode district, with the change on the month and on the year. Then give the median for the vendor's property type, because a flat owner cares about flats.
List the recent sales nearest to the vendor's home, with the street, date, price and type. Add the number of sales in the period. Then write two or three sentences on what moved the median, for example a run of new-build sales or fewer detached houses than usual.
As an example: "The median for terraced houses in the district was £265,000 in the latest quarter, from 18 sales. A year earlier it was £258,000 from 24 sales." These figures are only an illustration.
Updates for landlords
Landlords usually hold several properties and want a view across them. Group the update by postcode and by type, so each property can be read against similar homes.
Sales bought as buy-to-let with a mortgage are in the data as additional price paid sales, along with repossessions and company purchases. They are real sales at real prices, so they belong in the figures.
The data records sale prices only. It does not show rents, yields or tenancies, so keep any comment on those separate from the sold-price figures.
A landlord thinking of selling one property can use the update to see how homes of that type have sold over the past year. If they want a figure for a single address, that is a market appraisal from you, based on the comparable sales, and the update shows the evidence behind it.
Keeping it accurate
Use completed sales only. Do not mix in asking prices or sales agreed, and do not describe the update as a valuation. If you add your own view of the current market, label it as your view.
Do not draw a trend from one month. A small district may have only a few sales in a month, and one sale can move the median a long way. Show the quarter, or the last twelve months, alongside the month. The guide to comparing streets and postcodes covers fair comparisons.
Updates must not mislead on price evidence. The duty sits under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, which the CMA enforces. Trading standards withdrew its material information guidance on 8 May 2025.
Sending it
Send it at the same time each month, soon after the new data is published. A PDF with your firm's name and contact details is easy for a vendor to keep and share.
Using House Price Monitor
House Price Monitor's professional plan costs £15 a month and covers up to five postcode districts. Each month you get a PDF report for each postcode, with the median, the change on the month and the year, houses against flats, every sale with street, date and price, and a written note of what moved the median. Your firm's logo, name, phone and website go at the top. The plan also includes valuation packs of comparable sales for a single address. Your first report is free when you sign up.
Other guides
Explaining a rising or falling local market to sellers
Preparing a market appraisal from sold prices