Christmas housing market slowdown starts early as price growth ‘stalls’ in some areas
The UK housing market is experiencing an earlier-than-usual slowdown ahead of the festive period, property website Zoopla reports; Buyer demand and contracted sales are down significantly from a year ago.
This annual decline was compounded by a strong final quarter of 2024, with many rushing to complete sales before stamp duty cuts become less generous in April 2025.
Uncertainty over the Autumn Budget is also putting a damper on agreed sales, particularly for homes priced above £500,000.
Zoopla said some parts of the UK, such as Scotland, Yorkshire and the Humber, the South West and the West Midlands, were seeing stronger sales than a year ago.
But there has been a particularly sharp slowdown in new sales agreed in Wales, the South East, the East of England and London, the website added.
Zoopla said house price growth in southern parts of England had “almost stopped”, limiting price rises.
However, it was stated that house price growth continued to be “strong”, including in Scotland, Wales and the northern parts of England. There was a 7.6% increase in house prices in Northern Ireland.
Zoopla said that the average time it takes to find a buyer for a house is around 37 days, while in London this time increases to 45 days.
As the new job market begins to slow, Zoopla estimates it has a pipeline of around 350,000 homes worth over £100bn through the sales process.
It was stated that this is the largest pipeline in more than four years, since May 2021, when “the epidemic explosion was in full swing”.
“The stability of mortgage interest rates, along with strong demand from first-time buyers, has brought more sellers to the market, many of whom are also buyers,” the report said.
The website used its own data to make its sales pipeline forecast for the UK market.
Zoopla’s home sales data covered the four weeks to 19 October 2025, compared with the same period in 2024. House price data is up through the end of September 2025.
Rather than asking prices, the index measures the change in house prices when sales are agreed upon.
According to Zoopla, annual house price increases or decreases across the UK in September are as follows:
Northern Ireland, 7.6%
North West, 3.0%
Scotland, 2.7%
North East, 2.3%
Wales, 2.2%
West Midlands, 2.1%
Yorkshire and Humber, 1.9%
East Midlands, 1.2%
East of England, 0.8%
London, 0.1%
South East, 0.0%
South West, minus 0.1%
Zoopla Executive Director Richard Donnell said: “There is a slowdown in activity in the housing market but there are still serious sellers looking to buy a home and secure their next home purchase.
“Buying a home is a long process, and there are a record number of homes for sale, meaning many buyers are looking for their next home. The slowdown is modest and less severe than the impact of the 2022 mini-budget.”
“Early stage buyers, who took a cautious approach to new purchases before the budget, are being more cautious about those purchasing higher value homes.
“The housing market is on track to record the most home sales since 2022, and home prices are expected to be 1% to 1.5% higher at the end of the year than at the beginning of 2025.”
