Buyer enquiries have rebounded in recent weeks, with Zoopla reporting that homes priced in line with current market expectations are still achieving sales, despite ongoing uncertainty in the wider housing market.
The improvement in enquiry levels suggests a return of more active buyer behaviour compared with earlier in the year, although agents continue to stress that pricing remains the key factor in securing interest and achieving offers.
Well-positioned properties are attracting consistent demand, while over-ambitious pricing continues to result in longer time on market and reduced viewing activity.
“Buyer enquiries have rebounded after Easter and with mortgage rates starting to fall, we expect the market to remain active through the rest of the year,” said Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla.
Zoopla’s latest House Price Index shows that the average time to sell a home in the UK has increased by just one day year on year, despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and higher mortgage rates.
The data suggests a broadly stable market, with buyers continuing to move where pricing is realistic. Sales agreed are down around 3% compared with last year, but buyer enquiries picked up after the Easter period, supported in part by improving expectations around interest rates and greater clarity in financial conditions.
Average UK house price inflation is currently 1.3%, down from 1.8% a year earlier, with the average property price at £271,700.
London and surrounding areas are seeing the most noticeable slowdown in transaction speed. Homes in the capital are taking around six days longer to sell than a year ago, with similar increases across parts of the commuter belt.
The biggest rises in time to sell are in outer London and commuter locations, which are more reliant on first-time buyers. Harrow has seen the sharpest change, with average selling times rising 65% year on year to 54 days. South East London is up 34% to 43 days, East London up 29% to 36 days, while areas including Uxbridge and Bromley have also seen increases of around a week.
The pattern extends into wider commuter towns, including Dartford (up 28% to 37 days), Peterborough (up 26% to 48 days) and Slough (up 18% to 46 days).
Zoopla noted that higher purchase costs are also affecting demand, particularly in London, where around four in five first-time buyers pay stamp duty of around 3% of the purchase price. Outside London, fewer than one in ten first-time buyers pay stamp duty, and at a lower effective cost.
Across the UK, market conditions remain uneven. Scotland continues to record the fastest selling times at 15 days, unchanged year on year. Northern regions of England are broadly in line with last year, supported by lower stock levels.
Price growth continues to show a regional divide. The North East is the strongest-performing region at 3.2% annual growth, followed by the North West at 3.1% and Scotland at 2.6%. Northern Ireland remains the strongest overall at 6.7%.
By contrast, southern regions are flat or slightly negative. London and the South East are both down 0.2%, while the South West is up just 0.1%. Some southern cities are recording small declines, including Bournemouth (-1.7%), Cambridge (-0.9%) and Brighton (-1.1%).
