The UK housing market is experiencing an earlier-than-usual slowdown ahead of the festive period, with buyer demand and agreed sales significantly down compared to a year ago, property website Zoopla has reported.
This annual dip has been amplified by a strong final quarter in 2024, when many rushed to complete sales before stamp duty discounts became less generous in April 2025.
Uncertainty surrounding the autumn Budget is also acting as a drag on agreed sales, particularly for homes priced above £500,000.
Some parts of Britain are seeing stronger sales than a year ago, such as Scotland, Yorkshire and the Humber, the South West and the West Midlands, Zoopla said.
But Wales, the South East, East of England and London are experiencing a particularly sharp slowdown in new sales being agreed, the website added.
House price growth has “virtually stalled” across southern regions of England, limiting price increases, Zoopla said.
But house price growth remains “robust” in areas including Scotland, Wales and northern regions in England, it said. Northern Ireland has seen house price growth of 7.6%.
The average time to find a buyer for a home is around 37 days, rising to 45 days in London, Zoopla said.
While the market for new business has started to slow, Zoopla estimated there is a pipeline of nearly 350,000 homes, valued at over £100 billion, working through the sales process.
It said this is the biggest pipeline in over four years, since May 2021, “when the pandemic boom was in full swing”.
The report said: “Stability in mortgage rates has brought more sellers into the market, many of whom are also buyers, alongside strong demand from first-time buyers.”
The website used its own data to make the sales pipeline estimate for the UK market.
Zoopla’s home sales data covered the four weeks to October 19 2025, compared with the same period in 2024. Its house price data went up to the end of September 2025.
The index measures the change in house prices when sales are agreed, rather than asking prices.
Here are annual house price increases or decreases across the UK in September, according to Zoopla:
Northern Ireland, 7.6%
North West, 3.0%
Scotland, 2.7%
North East, 2.3%
Wales, 2.2%
West Midlands, 2.1%
Yorkshire and the Humber, 1.9%
East Midlands, 1.2%
Eastern England, 0.8%
London, 0.1%
South East, 0.0%
South West, minus 0.1%
Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, said: “The housing market is experiencing a slowdown in activity but there are still serious sellers looking to buy homes and secure their next home purchase.
“Buying a home is a lengthy process and there are a record number of homes for sale which means lots of buyers looking for their next home. The slowdown is modest and less severe than the impact of the 2022 mini-budget.
“It’s early stage buyers adopting a cautious approach to new purchases ahead of the Budget with greater caution for those buying higher value homes.
“The housing market remains on track for the most housing sales since 2022 and house prices are set to end the year 1% to 1.5% higher than the start of 2025.”
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