London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Jul 21, 2025

Average UK house price exceeds £260,000 for first time

Average UK house price exceeds £260,000 for first time

Shortage of homes for sale in February pushes up house price growth for seventh straight month
A shortage of homes for sale last month sent house price growth spiralling for the seventh consecutive month to 12.6%, prompting concerns that property values are moving further out of reach of first-time buyers.

Prices of the average home increased by 1.7% in February to more than £260,000 for the first time, said the building society Nationwide, accelerating the pace of growth from 11.2% in January.

Analysts, who expected a smaller increase in prices last month, said the ending of Covid restrictions enforced because of the Omicron variant and the threat of several interest rate rises this year from the Bank of England also spurred buyers to secure homes ahead of the peak Easter buying period.

Stiff competition between lenders for mortgage business, which has driven the offers for fixed-rate mortgages lower in recent months, was another factor driving prices higher.

Nationwide said the increase pushed the average British house price to £260,230, after soaring by almost £30,000 over the past 12 months – the biggest annual increase in cash terms that its monthly index has recorded in more than 30 years of its existence.

The price of a typical home is about a fifth higher than it was in February 2020, shortly before the coronavirus lockdowns started in the UK, according to Nationwide. This equates to a cash increase of £44,140.

As house price growth has outpaced wage increases, and housing affordability has become stretched, the price of a typical home sits at about 6.7 times average earnings, up from a ratio of 5.8 in 2019, according to Nationwide.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said housing market activity had remained robust in recent months, with mortgage approvals continuing to run above pre-pandemic levels at the start of the year.

He said: “A combination of robust demand and limited stock of homes on the market has kept upward pressure on prices.

“The continued buoyancy of the housing market is a little surprising, given the mounting pressure on household budgets from rising inflation, which reached a 30-year high of 5.5% in January, and since borrowing costs have started to move up from all-time lows in recent months.

“The strength is particularly noteworthy since the squeeze on household incomes has led to a significant weakening of consumer confidence.”

Ross Boyd, the founder of the mortgage comparison platform Dashly.com, said: “First-time buyers are as keen as ever to get out of the rental market and on to the property ladder, as it’s usually cheaper to own if you can find the deposit.

“The major challenges facing the market right now are a scandalous lack of stock, interest rate rises and the surging cost of living.”

Martin Beck, the chief economic adviser to the EY Item Club, said most purchases were likely to be by households that had saved during the pandemic and were more immune from the rising cost of living when deciding to buy.

Some households might also anticipate that the conflict in Ukraine and the growing uncertainty about the economic outlook will restrain the Bank of England from increasing rates much above 1%.

“But overall, while the cost of mortgages may rise more slowly than had been expected, the outlook for the housing market is looking less buoyant,” he said.

Gardner said that if the labour market remained strong and inflation continued to rise towards 8%, as many analysts predicted, the Bank would have little choice but to raise rates this year.

“Assuming that labour market conditions remain strong, the Bank of England is likely to raise interest rates, which will exert a further drag on the market if this feeds through to mortgage rates.

“Housing affordability has already become more stretched, in part because house price growth has been outstripping earnings growth by a wide margin since the pandemic struck.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
×