House costs up £10,174 in a yr as consumers raced to beat stamp responsibility rise
House prices have risen £10,174 in the past year with the typical home having added more than £3,000 in value in 2025, latest figures from Nationwide Building Society show.
The average property is now worth £271,316 compared to £261,142 a year ago, or 3.9 per cent more. This is the same annual house price inflation recorded in February 2025.
It means property prices are closing in on the all-time peak recorded by Britain’s biggest mutual.
Prices hit £273,751 in August 2022 before the infamous mini-budget a month later helped push mortgage costs higher and hit the property market.
They were down at £257,656 as recently as January 2024, meaning a rise of 5.3 per cent since.
Flatlining: The annual rate of house price growth remained stable in March at 3.9%
On a monthly basis, prices were flat, as buyers’ hopes of completing their purchase before today’s stamp duty rise faded, according to Britain’s biggest mutual.
On a non-adjusted basis, the average house price rose from £270,493 in February to £271,316 last month.
Robert Gardner, chief economist at Nationwide said he considers the results unsurprising, given the end of the stamp duty holiday.
Nationwide’s latest figures are based on mortgages it approved in March, and Gardner says these deals would have been made in the knowledge that the sale was very unlikely to complete before the deadline.
From 1 April, purchasers who aren’t first-time buyers will start paying stamp duty if the property costs more than £125,000, down from a threshold of £250,000.
On a £250,000 property purchase this will mean paying an extra £2,500 in upfront taxes.
First-time buyers will bear the brunt of the changes. They previously paid stamp duty if a home cost more than £425,000, but this has dropped to £300,000.
Instead of paying no stamp duty on a purchase worth £425,000, from today they will pay £6,205.
Gardner thinks that the market may enter a lull following these changes. However, he is positive things will pick up again as the year progresses.
‘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,’ said Gardner.
‘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 interest rates are lowered further in the coming months as we and most other analysts expect.’
House prices have been steadily rising for more than a year now, but they still remain below the peak recorded in the summer of 2022
Northern Ireland remained the top performing area, with annual price growth accelerating to 13.5% while London is the weakest performing region, with 1.9% year-on-year rise
Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank also shares this view, but is a little less optimistic about the market picking up.
He said: ‘House prices were supported by the stamp duty deadline in the first quarter of the year but we expect a dip in activity as demand effectively resets from April.
‘Buyers coming back into the market with a re-levelled playing field will find that supply is strong, which should keep downwards pressure on prices.
‘Activity should recover by the summer but borrowing costs could be held higher for longer by erratic US trade policy and the inflationary impact of measures like the employer national insurance changes.’
Where house prices are rising the most and least
Northern Ireland is going through a house price boom, recording annual price growth of 13.5 per cent compared to a year ago.
Scotland saw prices rise by 3.9 per cent year-on-year, while Wales was close behind at 3.6 per cent.
Across England overall, prices were up 3.3 per cent year-on-year, according to Nationwide.
It says the north-south divide in house price performance persists, with prices in northern England up 4.9 per cent year on year, outperforming southern England.
The North West was the best performing English region, with prices up 5.9 per cent year on year.
Meanwhile, average prices in London are up just 1.9 per cent, while in East Anglia prices are up 2.1 per cent compared to last year.
Jonathan Hopper, chief executive of buying agents Garrington Property Finders sees no obvious sign of this trend ending anytime soon.
‘In many more expensive, and often highly desirable, areas a flood of supply has given buyers huge choice and negotiating power – and this has kept price inflation down,’ said Hopper.
‘This is why average prices in Northern Ireland surged seven times faster over the past year than they did in London.
‘Within England, the north-south divide is getting wider with average prices in the north growing twice as fast as they are in the south.
‘Across much of the south we’re seeing a buyers’ market in which buyers can ask for, and achieve, discounts off the asking price and where sellers are having to price very competitively to get a look-in.’
