Source: Sharecast
According to latest house price index from Rightmove, prices rose 0.8% in March, which the property portal said was a typical increase for the time of year. The national average asking price now stands at £371,042.
The number of homes for sale remained at an 11-year high, limiting more significant price rises, Rightmove added.
Agreed sales, meanwhile, fell 2% year-on-year, although Rightmove noted that March 2025 had been a particularly strong month. Compared to the same month in 2024, sales were up 5%.
Rightmove’s Colleen Babcock said: "Steady rather than strong is how I’d describe the start of this year’s spring market. With the number of homes for sale at its highest level for over a decade, buyers have plenty of choice."
The housing market had a subdued end to 2025, weighed down by weeks of speculation in the lead up to the November Budget and a traditionally quiet December.
It started 2026 on a more upbeat note, in large part due to widespread expectations that interest rates were set to fall this year.
Since then, however, the outbreak of war in the Middle East has sent global energy prices soaring, reigniting inflation fears, and analysts now widely believe the cost of borrowing will either be static or rise this year.
Rightmove said it was too early to assess the full impact of the "new global uncertainty" created by the Iran war.