Annual house price growth steady in March

  • Annual rate of house price growth remained stable in March at 3.9%, unchanged from February
  • Northern Ireland remained the top performing area, with annual price growth accelerating to 13.5%
  • London weakest performing region, with 1.9% year-on-year rise
Headlines Mar-25 Feb-25
 Monthly Index*  543.1 542.2
 Monthly Change*  0.0% 0.4% 
 Annual Change  3.9% 3.9% 
 Average Price (note seasonally adjusted)  £271,316 £270,493 

* Seasonally adjusted figure (note that monthly % changes are revised when seasonal adjustment factors are re-estimated)

Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Chief Economist, said: 

UK house price growth remained stable in March at 3.9%, the same as in February. There was no change in prices month-on-month, after taking account of seasonal effects. These price trends are unsurprising, given the end of the stamp duty holiday at the end of March (transactions associated with mortgage approvals made in March, especially toward the end of the month, would be unlikely to complete before the deadline).

Indeed, the market is likely to remain a little soft in the coming months since activity will have been brought forward to avoid the additional tax obligations – a pattern typically observed in the wake of the end of stamp duty holidays.

Nevertheless, activity is likely to pick up steadily as the summer progresses, despite wider economic uncertainties in the global economy, since underlying conditions for potential home buyers in the UK remain supportive.

The unemployment rate is low, earnings are rising at a healthy pace in real terms (i.e. after accounting for inflation), household balance sheets are strong and borrowing costs are likely to moderate a little if Bank Rate is lowered further in the coming quarters as we and most other analysts expect.

House price growth steady across most regions in first quarter of 2025

Our regional house price indices are produced quarterly, with data for Q1 (the three months to March) indicating that annual house price growth in most regions remained broadly similar to last quarter.

Annual change in house prices Q1-25

Northern Ireland, the strongest performer, was a notable exception, with annual price growth accelerating to 13.5% more than double the pace of the next fastest outturn in Q1 and the highest recorded in the region since 2021, though similar to the robust rates of growth seen in border regions of Ireland in recent quarters. Scotland saw a 3.9% annual rise, while Wales was close behind at 3.6%.

Across England overall, prices were up 3.3% year-on-year, similar to the 3.1% annual rise seen last quarter. The north-south divide in house price performance persisted, with prices in Northern England (comprising North, North West, Yorkshire & The Humber, East Midlands and West Midlands) up 4.9% year on year, outperforming southern England. Indeed, the North West was the best performing English region, with prices up 5.9% year on year. 

Annual house price growth in Southern & Northern England

Southern England (South West, Outer South East, Outer Metropolitan, London and East Anglia) saw a more modest 2.5% year-on-year rise. The Outer South East was the best performing southern region with annual price growth of 3.0%. Meanwhile, London was the weakest performing region in the UK as a whole, with annual growth of 1.9%

Property type update

Our most recent data by property type reveals that semi-detached houses have seen the biggest percentage rise in prices over the last 12 months, with average prices up 4.8% year on year.

UK annual % growth by property type
By contrast flats saw a slowing in annual price growth compared with last quarter, with a 2.3% rise. Detached properties recorded a 4.5% annual increase, while terraced properties saw a 4.1% year-on-year rise.

Quarterly Regional House Prices - Q1 2025

Please note that these figures are for the three months to March, therefore will show a different UK average price and annual percentage change to our monthly house price statistics.

Regions over the last 12 months

Region Average price (Q1 2025) Annual % chg this quarter Annual % chg last quarter
N Ireland  £205,796  13.5% 7.1%
North West  £221,896  5.9% 5.5%
West Midlands  £249,629  5.8% 4.7%
Yorks & The H  £211,496  5.2% 4.4%
North  £165,984  4.7% 5.9%
Scotland  £186,131  3.9% 4.4%
Wales  £209,839  3.6% 2.7%
Outer S East  £338,475  3.0% 2.3%
Outer Met  £426,139  2.8% 2.4%
South West  £305,410  2.8% 2.7%
East Midlands  £235,279 2.5% 4.4%
East Anglia  £274,400 2.1% 0.5%
London  £529,369 1.9% 2.0%
UK  £270,867 3.9% 3.6%
 
UK Fact File (Q1 2025)
Quarterly average UK house price £270,867
Annual percentage change 3.9%
Quarterly change (seasonally adj.) 1.2%
Most expensive region London
Least expensive region North
Strongest annual price change N Ireland
Weakest annual price change London


Nations summary table

Nations Average price (Q1 2025) Annual % change this quarter Quarterly % change
N Ireland  £205,796 13.5% 5.0%
Scotland £186,131 3.9% 0.6%
Wales £209,839 3.6% 1.7%
England £307,905 3.3% 1.2%