What’s happening with UK house prices? Latest property forecasts for 2026
The UK housing market continues to struggle as property price growth slows – but is there cause for optimism?
UK house price growth continues to struggle, largely due to geopolitical tensions and uncertainty over government policy.
Mortgage rates remain volatile amid tensions in the Middle East while fears over what could be announced in the Autumn Budget are causing the property market to slowdown.
The average two-year fixed-rate deal is 5.59% as of 1 September, according to data firm Moneyfacts, versus 4.83% on 27 February, before the outbreak of war between the US and Iran.
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The number of UK residential property transactions also fell by 1% between July 2025 and July 2026 to 96,710, according to the latest HMRC data.
A glut of homes for sale has given buyers more room to squeeze prices down as well. Property portal Rightmove said the supply of available homes in July 2026 was close to a 12-year high for that time of year.
How much can you now expect to pay for a house?
We look at the latest data from the major house price indices, including Lloyds, Nationwide and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Zoopla, as well as Rightmove for asking prices.
Each house price index (HPI) report varies, although the main indices put the average UK house price at roughly between £270,000 and £365,000.
That said, these are UK average prices, and prices can vary dramatically depending on the region and methodology of each HPI.
HM Land Registry UK House Price Index
The most authoritative house price index is HM Land Registry, as its data includes cash purchases as well as homes financed through a mortgage. Data is published on a six-week time lag, making it more retrospective than other house price indices.
According to the latest data from the Land Registry, the average house price is £272,188 as of June 2026, up just 0.1% from May 2026.
Nationwide House Price Index
The most recent Nationwide data puts the average UK house price at £275,465 as of August 2026, a fall of 0.4% from £276,581 in July 2026.
Annual house price growth slowed to 1.6% in the year to August 2026, from 1.8% in the 12 months to July 2026 and 2.2% in the year to June 2026.
Lloyds House Price Index
The latest Lloyds HPI, renamed after it retired the Halifax brand, shows the average UK house price is £299,253 as of July 2026, a fractional fall from £299,330 in June 2026.
Rightmove House Price Index
Unlike Nationwide and Halifax’s HPIs, which are based on the building society and bank’s valuations at the mortgage-approval stage, Rightmove’s HPI is based on asking prices.
According to Rightmove, asking prices fell by 2% in the month to August from £372,359 to £364,999, the largest August drop since 2018.
Zoopla House Price Index
The Zoopla HPI uses sold prices, mortgage valuations and data for agreed sales to calculate house prices for any given month.
Zoopla puts the average UK house price at £272,800, as of July 2026, the same as June 2026, but a fractional fall from £272,300 in May 2026.
How much confidence is there in the market?
As well as the five main house price indices, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) also publishes a monthly UK Residential Market Survey.
The survey generates net balance scores between -100 and +100 in response to a series of questions put to its members (estate agents and surveyors) about how the housing market has changed for better or worse.
The latest survey, covering the month of July, reveals the market remains subdued with house prices facing downward pressure.
The new buyer enquiries metric scored a net balance of -28% for the second consecutive month while the agreed sales metric read -30%, unchanged from the month before.
However, near-term sales expectations are showing signs of improving, showing a -14% reading in July, up from -16% in June.
Will house prices rise in 2026 and beyond?
Estate agents and economists are more pessimistic about prospects for UK housing growth in 2026 than they were at the start of the year, when mortgage rates were lower.
Economists at Pantheon Macroeconomics previously forecasted UK house prices would rise by 3% in 2026, but now expect an increase of just 1%.
Estate agents Savills is forecasting a 2% drop this year, while Knight Frank’s latest predictions forecast growth of 1.5%.
Zoopla has said annual house price inflation is expected to reach 1% by the end of 2026.
Rightmove started the year with a prediction that asking prices would rise by 2% but now expects them to either be flat or to fall by 2% instead.
The property website said this reflects mortgage rate movements, wider economic uncertainty and the potential impact of the forthcoming Budget.
However, the market could liven up soon following a slower summer period. In its August HPI, Zoopla said searches on its portal were 7% higher than the same period last year as buyers return to the market.
