House Price Index

Housing market confident but clear difference in price growth between north and south

The average price of newly-listed homes for sale rises by 1.2% (+£4,333) in May to £378,304. This is a greater rise than the ten-year May average of 1.0%. Housing market activity overall remains surprisingly confident despite uncertainty around global events and rising costs for many households.

However, there is a clear difference in price growth between the north and south of the UK. The national average shows an annual price fall of 0.3%, but there is a lot more going on at the regional level. House prices in the more affordable North East (+2.7%) and North West (+2.6%) are continuing to grow, while London (-2.4%) and the South East (-1.6%) are seeing price falls.

The number of homes for sale is at its highest level for this time of year since 2015, and almost a third of listings of existing homes for sale are seeing prices reduced. In light of this, new sellers need to price carefully at the beginning of the process to avoid longer selling times. Homes that didn’t need a price reduction sold in just 36 days, compared with 127 days for those that needed a reduction.

Market activity holding up well, including for first-time buyers

Despite ongoing pressures on the cost of living and higher mortgage rates in recent months, sales agreed were down by just 4% compared with this time last year, and were 2% higher than the same period in 2024. This suggests that many movers are going ahead with their plans, where affordability allows, even in a period of uncertainty around global events.

The first-time buyer market told a similar story, with sales down 4% compared with the stronger 2025 market and only 1% lower than 2024. This suggests that first-time buyers have not yet been heavily impacted by recent mortgage rate rises, despite affordability being an important factor for this group.

Affordability is being helped by lower pricing by new sellers. Typical first-time buyer homes saw the smallest average monthly price increase (+0.3%) and remained 0.7% lower than at this time last year.

What are mortgage rates doing?

Mortgage affordability has improved slightly this month, with Rightmove’s daily mortgage tracker showing that the average two-year fixed rate has fallen to 5.18%, from 5.42% at this time last month*.

Matt Smith, Rightmove’s mortgage expert comments: “While mortgage rates remain higher than many buyers would like, the picture on affordability has become a little more supportive this month. Small rate falls can make a meaningful difference to monthly budgets, and when combined with greater flexibility in lending following last year’s review of affordability rules, many buyers are still able to make the numbers work.”

The numbers at a glance

*Data provided by specialist mortgage technology provider Podium Solutions. The data covers 95% of mortgage lending, to exclude specialist lenders.

Expert comment

Colleen Babcock, property expert at Rightmove:

“It’s normal to see asking prices pick up as we move through the spring selling season. What’s notable this month is that activity in the market is staying fairly steady, even with ongoing cost-of-living pressures and wider global uncertainty.

“The number of sales agreed is holding up well, consistent with trends we’ve seen in 2026 so far. However, this overall positive national monthly snapshot masks a north-south divide in year-on-year seller pricing-power.

“Prices are rising in the north, but all sellers should note that buyer choice is now at its highest level for this time of year since 2015. Getting the asking price right from the outset is therefore increasingly important, as homes priced too ambitiously are taking longer to sell.

“Our research shows that a home that’s been reduced takes on average 91 more days to sell than a home that hasn’t needed to be reduced. That’s where agents have a key role to play, working closely with sellers to set realistic prices from day one to help homes to attract immediate interest and sell more quickly.”

Average asking price trends

Monthly average asking price trend

This graph shows the 1.2% price increase seen in May to £378,304. This is above the average rise of 1.0% for this time of year, according to the ten-year average.

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5 year asking price trend

This data shows average asking prices in the UK over the past five years. Here you can see the usual rise for this time of year as the market becomes more active in the Spring.

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Monthly changes in average asking prices

Here we see how much house prices have increased or decreased each month over the past year. The 1.2% increase for May 2026 reflects a slightly higher than average uplift for this time of year.

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Average stock per agent

Here we see the average of the number of homes per agent across the UK. The number of homes currently for sale is at its highest level for eleven years, given the time of year.

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Time to secure buyer (National)

This data shows the average amount of time it takes for a property to secure a buyer. With so many homes coming onto the market, competition is fierce, leading to longer times to find a buyer.

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Regional map

UK House Price Index by region

This map shows the UK House Price Index by region, illustrating how property price trends vary considerably for different parts of the UK. Here we see that the North West experienced the most house price growth in May, with a 1.9% increase, while regions in the South tended to experience more modest price growth.

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London trends

Time to secure a buyer in London

This graph shows the monthly average number of days it takes for a seller to secure a buyer in London. This gives an idea of how active the property market is there, peaking at 89 days in January.

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Affordability trends

Average monthly amount spent on a first-time buyer home

For this graph, the first-time buyer monthly mortgage payment is based on Bank of England data of the averages for 90% LTV two-year fixed mortgages from lenders, and the average asking price of a typical first-time buyer home (two bedrooms or fewer) using the Rightmove House Price Index. The equivalent monthly rent is calculated using the same property types (two bedrooms or fewer).

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Ability to afford a first-time buyer home

This affordability graph is based on the Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) dataset from ONS multiplied by 4.5 to get the typical maximum that a person can borrow from a lender. The average asking price of a typical first-time buyer home is taken from the Rightmove House Price Index.

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