May Market Update

The first third of 2025 is over and April was full of surprises. The month was a time for stamp duty revisions and Stateside politics – both impacting local property markets. Let’s review the key statistics.

1) Asking prices increased: another month and another increase to the UK’s average asking price. Rightmove said the price of property coming to market in April rose 1.4% (+£5,312). The UK’s average asking price is now £377,182.

£200 more in value

2) Sold prices nudged upwards: Zoopla’s April house price index told a story of a quietly appreciating market. The UK’s average property value increased by £200 between March and April. Annual appreciation stood at 1.6%.

Demand is building

3) Active buyers: in April, the leading property portals reported a growing appetite to move home. Zoopla said buyer demand was up 1%, while Rightmove had this figure at 5%. Rightmove also found the number of new sellers coming to market had increased 4%.

4) More homes for sale: confidence wasn’t exclusively with buyers. Sellers are stepping up too, boosting choice. Zoopla says the supply of homes for sale was 12% higher in April when compared to last year. Rightmove agrees, saying choice for buyers is at a 10-year high.

5) Trump made mortgages cheaper: April saw Trump’s tariff regime send shockwaves through financial markets. In the UK, swap rates decreased and experts are forecasting further base rate cuts. This had an almost overnight impact on mortgage rates.

6)  Sub 4% rates the new norm: with speculation of a base rate cut in early May and swap rates on a downward trend, lenders took action. Almost all the UK’s banks and building societies repriced their products last month. Rightmove said the average 2-year and 5-year, fixed-rate mortgages were below 3.84% at the end of April. 

7) Rent increases remain: the rent increases we reported last month were not a blip. Rents continue to rise month-on-month. HomeLet’s latest rental index showed newly agreed rents were 1% higher, compared to the last monitoring period. Tenants are paying an average of £1,288 per month.

8) Regional differences remain: the rent increase pattern wasn’t uniform, however. The biggest monthly rent increases were seen in the South West (2.2%), Scotland (1.8%) and Greater London (1.6%). The West Midlands saw rents decrease by 0.6%

Some Scottish landlords falling behind 

9) Frustration with legislation: a new survey by the SafeDeposits Scotland Charitable Trust found 1 in 5 Scottish landlords found it hard to keep up with private rental legislation. Of the 1,100 landlords questioned, 39% said private rented sector law was not being clearly explained.

10) Most expensive rental postcodes revealed: when property software platform Cohab set out to identify Britain’s most expensive postcodes in which to rent, it expected a London example to come out top. Surprisingly, it was a Buckinghamshire postcode that took top spot. Renters in HP9 pay an average of £5,920 per month - 358.4% more than the national average.

Renters feel overwhelmed

11) Better support and information required: 81% of new renters feel overwhelmed and financially unprepared, claims a new report from Housing Hands. The company surveyed 1,700 renters and also found 46% did not understand how deposit protection schemes work. Additionally, 63% were unaware of how long it typically takes to receive their deposit back.

12) Best places to buy an eco-home revealed: Searchland reviewed data across all Local Planning Authorities to compile a list of areas where the average EPC rating was above C. Some regional winners included Peterborough, Crawley, Milton Keynes and Bath. This was in addition to various regeneration-heavy areas in London.

If you would like to know more about your local property market, please get in touch.