House price growth is slowing after a sustained recovery over the last 12 months, reveals property website Zoopla in its latest House Price Index. The annual rate of UK house price growth dipped to 1.8 per cent in February, down from 1.9 per cent in January and is set to slow further in the coming months. Following the news, industry experts and professionals have shared their views below.
Richard Donnell, Executive Director at Zoopla, provides an outlook on the market: “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.”
Matt Thompson, head of sales at Chestertons comments on the Zoopla HPI data, stating: “Despite the recent rush of first-time buyers entering the market to beat the stamp duty deadline having slowed down, sellers anticipate a busy spring market. We have seen an increasing number of homeowners listing their property for sale in March which is currently creating a greater choice for house hunters. Still, with London having one of the most competitive property markets in the world, buyers are required to act fast and start their search as early as possible.”Toby Leek, President or NAEA Propertymark and practicing estate agent, comments:
“It’s inevitable that the changes in Stamp Duty thresholds were going to push many buyers to enter the market, in some cases, quicker than they potentially would have liked.
“By doing this and by acting quickly on their next home, lots of people may have saved thousands in the process. However, we’re now likely to witness the return to normality on the tail end of this spike as the sense of urgency has gone for a lot of buyers.
“Moving forward, we are now possibly going to see a further tapered slowing in house price growth, especially in areas like London, as a new middle ground to entice buyers starts to emerge.”
