Homes for sale are up 11% year-on-year, indicating that longstanding issues of housing supply are becoming less prevalent in today’s market
Meanwhile further increases are expected, as nearly 30% of listings typically launch between March and May, Zoopla’s House Price Index said.
This shift in supply is creating more of a buyers’ market, so it’s unsurprising that UK house price growth slowed to 1.8%.
Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, said: “We expect the growth in sales agreed to continue rising at a steady pace over 2025 as more sellers, most of whom are also buyers, enter the market in the coming months. House price growth is set to moderate further as
supply grows and the extra costs of stamp duty in England feed through into house prices.
“A slowing in house price growth is not a major concern although the market needs some growth in prices to encourage sellers to come to market and buyers to make realistic offers on homes for sale.
“There is plenty of demand for homes but also lots of choice. Households looking to sell their home in 2025 need to be careful when setting their asking prices if they are to attract sufficient demand to agree a sale. It’s important to seek the advice of local estate agents to inform the most suitable pricing strategy for every home.”
Buyer demand in the South is failing to keep pace with the increase in homes for sale, hence why price growth runs below 1% across London, the South East, South West and the East.
In northern England, the Midlands and Scotland, buyer demand is 10% higher than a year ago, while the supply of homes for sale has grown more slowly.
This has stimulated above-average house price growth, which is running 3% higher in the North West, and 2.5% higher in Scotland over the last year.
At a local level, house prices are rising fastest in Motherwell (4.3%) and Kirkcaldy (3.8%) postal areas in Scotland.
In Northern England prices are rising over twice as fast as the national average in Wigan (3.8%), Blackburn (3.7%), Lancaster (3.6%) and Bradford (3.6%) postal areas.
Donnell added: “We expect the growth in sales agreed to continue rising at a steady pace over 2025 as more sellers, most of whom are also buyers, enter the market in the coming months. House price growth is set to moderate further as supply grows and the extra costs of stamp duty in England feed through into house prices.
“A slowing in house price growth is not a major concern although the market needs some growth in prices to encourage sellers to come to market and buyers to make realistic offers on homes for sale.
“There is plenty of demand for homes but also lots of choice. Households looking to sell their home in 2025 need to be careful when setting their asking prices if they are to attract sufficient demand to agree a sale. It’s important to seek the advice of local estate agents to inform the most suitable pricing strategy for every home.”
