According to the Halifax House Price Index, monthly house price growth came to 0.3%, which compares to a 0.8% rise in January.
The average property price is currently estimated at around £301,151, which Halifax said is “edging up to another new high”.
Regional house price differences ‘remain significant’
From a regional perspective, the report said the differences in house prices “remain significant”, with a “clear split” between stronger growth in the North and “softer conditions” in the South.
Northern Ireland had the strongest house price growth, coming to around 6.3% year-on-year to £216,608.
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Scotland reported around 4.7% annual house price growth, bringing the average house price to £222,286.
Wales had a modest increase of around 2.4% on an annual basis, with the average house price coming to £231,637.
In England, the North East saw house prices grow by around 3.5% to £181,838 and the North West came to 2.9%, with average house prices sitting at £246,292.
Looking at the South, prices in the South East contracted by 2.2% year-on-year to £282,834, while London house prices decreased by 1% to £538,200.
Housing market building on ‘steady start to the year’
Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages at Halifax, said the figures show that the housing market has “built on its steady start to the year”, with average prices rising by around £3,000 since the start of the year.
She continued: “These latest figures suggest the market has regained some momentum after a softer end to 2025. While industry data for January show a slight easing in new mortgage approvals, overall activity has continued to prove resilient.
“There’s no doubt that affordability remains stretched, supply is constrained, and regional disparities persist. For those without family support, the path to homeownership feels particularly challenging.”
Bryden said conditions have been “gradually improving, with easing interest rates and real wage growth helping to support buyer confidence”.
“As ever, timely and expert advice remains key to helping more people achieve their goal of stepping onto the property ladder.
“Looking ahead, geopolitical uncertainties seem set to influence the outlook for inflation and the wider economy. Against that backdrop, markets are now anticipating a more gradual path for interest rate reductions. If realised, the speed at which borrowing costs ease may be tempered,” she noted.
Signs some momentum has come back to housing market but Middle East crisis a concern
Alice Haine, personal finance analyst at Bestinvest by Evelyn Partners, said the softer monthly increase may suggest the housing market had “not fully recovered from the Autumn Budget”, although there were “signs that some level of momentum had returned to the market following a lacklustre end to 2025”.
She continued: “Mortgage approvals dipped in January for the fourth month in a row, reflecting continued hesitation among some buyers to proceed with purchases despite greater clarity around the outlook for property taxes in the aftermath of the Autumn Budget. Even so, the Halifax data suggests an underlying resilience in the overall housing market.
“Now, the housing market has a fresh challenge; conflict in the Middle East that has sent energy prices soaring, creating an inflationary headwind [that] may cloud the outlook for interest rates, just at a point when borrowing costs had eased into more palatable territory.”
Haine said the Bank of England had been expected to cut interest rates at its next meeting on 19 March, with further cuts expected later this year, but “fears are now mounting that rate cuts may be delayed, or worse, that the bank may even need to raise rates again to counter a fresh inflationary shock driven by surging energy prices”.
She noted that inflation eased back to a 10-month low of 3.2% in January, with expectations it could be closer to the Bank of England’s 2% target by April, but this now looks less likely.
“Energy prices have risen sharply since the outbreak of the conflict because oil markets are highly sensitive to geopolitical tensions in the Gulf region. Any prolonged disruption to the supply of oil and gas poses a significant risk to the global economy and the outlook for inflation. Persistent increases in energy prices would push inflation higher and slow economic growth, placing central banks around the world, including the BoE, in a very challenging position,” she explained.
Haine said this would create a “renewed sense of uncertainty” and shifting interest rate expectations are “already filtering through to the market”, with some major lenders announcing increases to their fixed rate products in response to the crisis, while average two- and five-year fixed deals have edged higher this week.
“With some mortgage rate changes already underway, first-time buyers looking to secure a loan – and homeowners needing to refinance an existing product – would be wise to lock in the best deal they can find now. Once a new product is secured, it is crucial to stay in close contact with your broker. If the Middle East conflict proves short-lived and mortgage rates ease again, brokers can often switch borrowers to a better rate on their product right up until two weeks before their mortgage term starts.
“While first-time buyers and those coming off short-term fixes must prepare themselves for slightly higher rates than they had hoped, the group likely to be most anxious about the outlook for mortgage rates are borrowers emerging from ultra-low fixed-rate arrangements secured five years ago before the Bank of England began hiking rates. Many were already bracing for significant increases in their monthly repayments, but these could now be even higher than feared if mortgage rates continue to rise.
“While it is far too early to assess the impact of recent mortgage rate changes on longer-term house price growth, the outlook from here will ultimately depend on how long the conflict lasts and its impact on domestic inflation, interest rates and the wider economy,” she said.
