UK house prices post record January rise as market rebounds, Rightmove says

LONDON, 19 January 2026 — UK asking prices posted their strongest January increase on record, rising 2.8 percent from December to an average of £368,031, according to new data released by Rightmove, as market sentiment improved following the November Budget and home-movers returned in force.

The property portal reported that the monthly jump of £9,893 was the largest for any January in its 25-year index and the biggest monthly gain since June 2015. National average asking prices were 0.5 percent higher than a year earlier, reversing weaker trends through much of 2025.

Rightmove said its early snapshot showed a sharp rebound in activity after the holidays. Buyer demand in the two weeks after Christmas rose 57 percent compared with the two weeks before, while new listings increased 81 percent. The company recorded its highest-ever Boxing Day traffic as prospective movers began their 2026 searches.

The company attributed the surge partly to stabilising sentiment after Budget uncertainty late last year. “Asking prices are only back to where they were in the summer of 2025 before the Budget rumours began surfacing, which unsettled the market and dented confidence,” said Colleen Babcock, a Rightmove property expert. She added that “sellers would do well to listen to the guidance of their agent when setting their asking price and avoid being over-optimistic” due to a high volume of competing stock and widespread price reductions.

Available supply remains elevated, with the number of homes for sale at its highest level for this time of year since 2014. Rightmove reported that one-third of properties already on the market had seen price cuts.

Mortgage costs have eased. Rightmove’s daily tracker showed the average two-year fixed mortgage rate falling to 4.29 percent, the lowest since before the September 2022 mini-Budget, down from 5.03 percent a year earlier. The cheapest two-year deal for borrowers with larger deposits stood at 3.47 percent. The company said the drop meant a buyer purchasing at the national average asking price with a 20 percent deposit would save more than £100 per month compared with last year.

“Mortgage rates have slowly but surely been coming down,” said Matt Smith, Rightmove’s mortgage expert, adding that typical homebuyers were now seeing the lowest average rates since 2022. He said financial markets were expecting no further rate cuts until the second quarter, suggesting limited movement in the near term.

Price performance varied across regions. Most areas recorded monthly increases, although the East Midlands and Scotland saw declines, Rightmove said. In London, the average asking price rose 2.8 percent on the month to £679,782, with borough-level data showing significant divergence. Camden saw a 4.0 percent monthly fall, while Westminster recorded a 3.4 percent rise.

By market segment, first-time buyer properties rose 1.6 percent month on month to £225,544, second-stepper homes increased 2.0 percent to £341,131, and top-of-the-ladder listings climbed 2.6 percent to £658,658.

Rightmove said the start-of-year uplift positioned the market for a potentially stronger spring, though it noted that buyer demand in the most recent week remained below the stamp duty-driven surge seen early in 2025 but broadly matched 2024 levels.