The average asking price of newly listed homes rose by 0.8% (+£3,023) in March to £371,042, marking a typical seasonal increase after February’s flat month, according to the latest House Price Index released by Rightmove on 16 March.

The property portal says the rise reflects the start of the spring selling season, though growth remains modest.

An 11-year high in available homes is giving buyers more choice and keeping prices in check, while improved affordability is supporting demand. However, strong competition means sellers may need to price their homes more competitively, with the time to secure a buyer now the longest for this time of year since 2013. Meanwhile, the number of new listings coming to market is running 3% below last year’s level but still 7% ahead of 2024.

Rightmove’s Colleen Babcock says: “March has brought a typical seasonal lift in prices, and ‘steady rather than strong’ is how I’d describe the start of this year’s spring market. With the number of homes for sale at its highest level for over a decade, buyers have plenty of choice.

“Many sellers are facing stiff competition and the longest average time to sell at this time of year since 2013. In this kind of market, being not only competitive on price, but competitive from the outset when setting an asking price for your home is critical. Our research shows that relying on later price reductions is a much tougher and less effective strategy when buyers are very price sensitive and have so many alternatives to choose from.”

Market reaction
Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and former RICS residential chairman, says: “Despite inevitable worries that the present geopolitical uncertainty will increase upward pressure on inflation and mortgage payments, we have seen no price reductions or withdrawals from agreed sales in our offices other than for property-related reasons. Most buyers are obviously nervous about the impact of the conflict but are adopting a ‘wait-and-see’ stance for now at least.

“These figures from Rightmove reflect asking prices rather than sales values and determine whether genuine buyers are attracted so may take a little longer to reflect any change in sentiment. Sellers should know confidence takes a long time to build but can disappear quite quickly and the market continues to be price-sensitive, bearing in mind particularly high stock levels. However, sellers and buyers will be hoping the Bank of England keeps interest rates unchanged this week and that activity will shortly resume the steady improvement seen at the beginning of 2026.”

Nathan Emerson, CEO at Propertymark, comments: “Consumers are generally in a far stronger position to purchase a property than they were a year ago, mainly due to serval successive base rate cuts and falls in the rate of inflation as well.

“Our member agents have reported an encouraging start to the year, with a sense of resilience when looking at the number of properties being placed for sale and the number of viewings on each available property too.

“Housing continues to play a driving role in the UK economy, and we are continuing to see progression regarding overall affordably. Across the last 12 months, we have seen a near 15% drop in the magnitude of fall-throughs reported per member branch, helping demonstrate a stronger degree of determination from both buyers and seller alike to complete on their transaction.”

Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, adds: “The UK housing market faces notably more challenging conditions than it did a fortnight ago. The Middle East conflict will keep sentiment and transaction volumes in check, while higher mortgage rates will curb spending power and put downwards pressure on prices. However, the extent of both depends on how long the disruption lasts. If there is a resolution in the short-term, the inflationary impact would be less severe and multiple rate cuts in 2026 could come back onto the table quite quickly.”

However, Matt Smith, Rightmove’s mortgage expert, says: “A March Bank Rate cut is no longer on the cards and any further Base Rate cuts this year look uncertain. There is, however, no forecast Bank Rate increase either in the view of the financial markets.

“The reason that mortgage rates are rising is that swap rates, the underlying costs of fixed rate deals, take into account the view of Base Rate, and they had priced in at least a 0.25% reduction in March and a potential of a second cut later in the year.

“The recent shocks that the market has seen due to the Iran war have meant that lenders’ fixed rate pricing needs to change to reflect the Bank Rate remaining flat for longer.”

The current UK Base Rate is 3.75%, following a cut in December 2025.