Average house prices rose by just 1.3% in the year to July, below the 2.1% price growth recorded at the start of 2025

One in ten UK homes registered a cut to the asking price in July, well above the five-year average, as sellers continue to adjust to a buyers market.

Average house prices rose by just 1.3% in the year to July, below the 2.1% price growth recorded at the start of 2025, according to Zoopla’s latest House Price Index.

There is plenty of demand for homes and more people are looking to move, but buyers also have much greater choice to choose from, especially across areas of southern England, Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, said.

There is a clear link between buyer choice and price inflation and how long it is taking homes to sell, he added.

While buyers have a greater choice of homes for sale than this time last year – up 10% – affordability remains a constraint on buying power, especially across Southern England.

Northern regions have seen an average time to sell of 27 days in July, versus 39 days in the south.

In a buyer’s market, where fewer buyers are looking to take the plunge, sensitively-priced homes will usually sell quicker, as sellers compete, Tomer Aboody, director of specialist lender MT Finance, said.

Since we have possibly seen the final base rate cut of the year, buyers may need to get used to the new ‘norm’ for mortgage rates for the foreseeable future, he added.

Zoopla expects UK house price inflation to continue in a range of 1.5-2% over the rest of the year, with signs that prices are firming in southern England but slowing across northern regions.

Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, said: Stable house prices within the housing market are a welcome sign for groups such as first-time buyers, who can better take advantage of a period of steadiness.

Emerson added: It remains important that sellers continue to have realistic price expectations and place their property on the market accordingly to help empower an efficient sales process.