What’s happening with UK house prices? Latest property market moves explained
05-30-2025
House prices rose ahead of March's stamp duty deadline, but higher purchase costs could dampen buyer demand going forward. Will house prices rise or fall in 2025?
Katie Williams's avatar
By Katie Williams
The housing market had a busy start to the year as buyers raced to beat changes to stamp duty thresholds at the end of March, but the outlook is more uncertain now that property purchase costs are higher.
Official figures from HM Land Registry, published on 21 May, show house prices rose by 6.4% annually in March, up from 5.4% the month before. This was the fastest rate of annual growth in over two years as buyers raced to beat the stamp duty deadline.
On a monthly basis, prices rose by 1.1%. This takes the average UK property to £271,000, around £16,000 higher than a year ago.
While Land Registry data is the most authoritative source, it comes with a two-month time lag, meaning it doesn’t give a sense of how stamp duty changes have impacted the housing market following the threshold drop.
First-time buyers now begin paying the controversial property tax on homes worth more than £300,000, down from £425,000 previously. Meanwhile, home movers have seen the tax-free threshold drop from £250,000 to £125,000.
https://moneyweek.com