Average house prices have jumped nearly £10,000 in the past month but sellers also warned number of homes for sale at 12-year high
The housing market has started the year with a bounce after a record jump in prices.
The average home has surged by just under £9,900 to £368,031 since December, according to property website Rightmove. The 2.8% spike marked the largest increase in the month of January in Rightmove’s 25 years of reporting, and the biggest month-on-month increase of any month since June 2015.
The company said the market had rebounded after Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget at the end of November, before which there had been rumours and uncertainty that put a dampener on activity.
However, Rightmove warned homeowners thinking of selling that the market remained tough. The number of available homes for sale is the highest it has been at this time of year since 2014, it said. And a third of existing homes for sale have had to be reduced in price. There are also large variations across the country, with the market “volatile”, Rightmove added. While prices in most regions rose this month, the East Midlands and Scotland bucked the trend with falls.
Rightmove said buyer demand in the two weeks after Christmas Day – as measured by the number of people contacting agents to enquire about homes for sale – surged by 57%, and the number of homes newly listed for sale rocketed by 81% compared with the two weeks beforehand.
Demand has been helped by a steady reduction in mortgage rates, with a number of headline-grabbing cuts from many major lenders at the end of 2025 and the beginning of this year.
Colleen Babcock, property expert at Rightmove, said: “It’s an encouraging start to the year to see sellers confident enough to list their homes at higher prices after several months of muted price growth last year, coinciding with more potential buyers returning to market. Some buyers, particularly first-time buyers, won’t want to see prices rising too quickly. However, asking prices are only back to where they were in the summer of 2025 before the Budget rumours began surfacing, which unsettled the market and dented confidence.
“This new year seller confidence is a good sign, but sellers would do well to listen to the guidance of their agent when setting their asking price and avoid being over-optimistic. There’s a twelve-year high number of homes for sale for this time of year, so buyers have lots of choice, and a third of properties that were already on the market for sale have had a price reduction. This means that sellers need to be realistic and balance the price they want to achieve with the likelihood of being able to find a buyer in their local market at that price.”
Myles Moloney, director at Chase Buchanan estate agents in London, said: “The market has been very busy, and the types of homes we’re seeing become available for sale are perfectly positioned to take advantage of what buyers are looking for right now.
“Strong schooling is a huge driver in our area and growing families want a large open plan kitchen and living space. We had a listing which fit these exact criteria and was one of the most viewed on Rightmove on Boxing Day. It was the kind of home that naturally stands out when activity spikes. We have also seen a big uplift at the start of this year in family home buyers who are moving for the second or third time.
“Many are keen to push on early in 2026 and secure their next step rather than wait for the spring market. Improving affordability through mortgage rate cuts are helping. Homes that are well presented, priced sensibly, and set up for modern family living are the ones cutting through and attracting the highest levels of attention.”
