The UK housing market continues to show signs of improvement, as more sellers price realistically to help attract potential buyers, according to the latest Rightmove House Price Index, which revealed that the average new seller asking prices increased by 1.3%, or £4,571 month-on-month to £359,748, the biggest December to January rise in prices since 2020.

According to Rightmove, average new seller asking prices are still 0.7% lower than last year, highlighting that many new sellers are being realistic about their expectations as the market continues to recover from the impact of volatile mortgage rates.

Nathan Emerson, CEO at Propertymark, commented on the Rightmove data: “Sellers will no doubt be happy that their homes have increased in value month on month despite the challenging economic situation. Serious buyers continue to complete on their homes, but what we now hope is that this increase, combined with lower interest rates could encourage those homeowners who have been holding back on their next home move due to previous economic turmoil. It is now vital that the UK government continues working towards reducing inflation in order to increase momentum in the market.”