12:01 AM, 30th July 2026, 6 minutes ago
The UK’s house price growth has slowed to 1.3% as higher mortgage rates and political uncertainty pushed sales agreed 9% below last year’s level, Zoopla reveals.
The summer slowdown has been sharper than usual across most of the country.
It says that the North East is the only region to buck the trend, with sales agreed around 4% higher than a year ago.
The property platform says sales activity typically records a jump in September, although any recovery will depend on mortgage rates holding steady.
Sharper than normal drop
Richard Donnell, the executive director at Zoopla, said: “This summer has seen a sharper slowdown than usual, with higher mortgage rates and political uncertainty both weighing on buyer confidence.
“But it’s not all one-way traffic, sales are still getting done, house prices are still rising in most of the country, and buyers have more room to negotiate than they’ve had in some time.
“Conditions can vary sharply from place to place with almost three-quarters of local markets have seen sales fall over the past three months, but a quarter are bucking that trend entirely.”
He added: “For anyone who doesn’t need to move, it’s entirely reasonable to wait and see how things settle.
“But for those with a genuine need to sell, our data shows September is when the market typically turns, and pricing to meet buyers now is what tends to get deals done, rather than waiting to see what autumn brings.”
Markets with fewer sales
Almost three-quarters of local housing markets (76%), recorded fewer sales than a year earlier over the past three months.
The remaining 24% saw sales hold steady or increase.
Warrington, Hull and Dundee have been identified as property hotspots by Zoopla with sustained growth in sales agreed and stronger price increases than a year ago.
Bath, Oxford and Harrow recorded fewer transactions and moved from positive annual price growth to flat or negative readings.
Homes in Harrow were taking 65% longer to sell in April than they had a year earlier.
Homes for sale
The number of homes available for sale is higher than a year ago in eight of the UK’s 11 regions, giving serious buyers greater scope to negotiate.
The average UK property has gained £3,400 in value over the past 12 months and is now worth £272,800.
However, annual house price growth has fallen from 1.7% to 1.3%.
A typical home in Northern Ireland gained £9,610 over the year, while the average property in the North West increased in value by £7,100.
London recorded an average fall of £3,270, while properties in the South East lost £1,480.
House price movements
Annual price growth in the North West increased from 3.2% to 3.5%, in the North East it rose from 2.6% to 3.1%, while Scotland moved from 2.8% to 3.1%.
London moved from annual growth of 0.7% to a fall of 0.6%, while the South East shifted from growth of 0.7% to a decline of 0.3%.
During each of the past three autumns, Zoopla says, the proportion of homes receiving asking-price cuts of at least 5% peaked in September.
Almost a third (30%) of properties currently for sale were first listed during the second quarter and remain unsold without a price reduction.
