May Property Market Analysis

While spring is usually one of the property market’s busiest seasons, 2025 looks set to be a little different. As well as being brisk for both sales and lettings, this April was an important time for setting the scene ahead of summer. Future property prospects look fascinating.

We started the month coming off the back of falling inflation and a base rate cut to 4.5% but taking a little wind out of the sails was the stamp duty reform. New rates took effect from 1st April, with the return of the 2% band and a reduced stamp-duty free threshold. Zoopla said 4 out of 5 buyers in England and Northern Ireland would pay more stamp duty as a result.

No post-stamp duty shakedown

The industry was prepared for house prices to take a hit following the stamp duty reform but we’re pleased to report there has been no evidence of a ‘crash and burn’. Instead, house prices have held firm and momentum is building among home movers, who have been quick to adjust to the change.

Confidence remains high

Rightmove was quick to publicise its April House Price Index, drawing attention to demand and sentiment. The portal found most buyers who had missed the stamp duty deadline proceeded with their purchases. Its number crunching also found fall through rates remained steady.

‘Resilient’ was used to describe incoming movers. Rightmove found new buyer demand was up by 5% when compared to last year, and the number of new sellers coming to market was up by 4%. Their confidence meant the number of available homes to buy during April was at a decade-long high.

Zoopla’s April House Price Index also made for interesting reading. The portal’s analysts  found buyer demand was up 1% up April 2025, when compared to last year. It also said the supply of new homes for sale had improved – to the tune of 12% when compared to the same point in 2024.

Swelling demand sets us up for a busy summer and we expect the weeks between now and the school holidays to be prime selling time. The desire to purchase a property is being helped along by falling mortgage rates. Those looking to secure a home loan will find far more sub-4% deals.

We have global economic instability to thank. In April, stock markets were reeling from Donald Trump’s tariff introduction, with swap rates down and the Bank of England more likely to cut the base rate. As a result, all of the UK’s major lenders had repriced mortgages with lower rates by the end of the month. Rightmove said the average 2-year, fixed rate mortgage rate was 3.79% and the average 5-year, fixed rate mortgage rate was 3.83%.

Sellers push on with asking prices

Rightmove also reported an unexpected increase to asking prices in April. When compared to March, sellers were asking 1.4% more (or £5,312 extra) – which it said was a bigger-than-usual seasonal increase. The new average asking price is £377,182.

When it came to the UK’s average house price, Zoopla said values continue to rise. When looking at annual appreciation, house prices were up 1.6% year-on-year. As we would expect following the stamp duty reform, however, prices increased by just £200 between March and April, with a new average house price of £267,400.

Small rent increases persist

Increases to UK rents were just as moderate as house price rises but they’re still climbing. Rightmove’s quarterly rental report found rents rose 0.1% in Greater London. Outside of the capital, rents rose 0.6%.

HomeLet’s latest rental index revealed the monthly movement. It found rents within Greater London increased 1.6% in its last 4-week monitoring period. Outside of Greater London, rents rose 0.7%.

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