With Rightmove reporting the largest ever January price jump, as the market rebounds following the Budget, Zoopla highlights the importance of pricing as the number of homes for sale remains high. Read more about the latest property market trends nationally and in our regions of Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire with our new house price report.
In Brief
Nationally the market has seen –
- The average price of homes coming to the market for sale rose in January to £368,031, a 2.8% increase from December (+£9,893). This is the largest ever price increase seen in the month of January, and the largest of any month since June 2015.¹
- National average property prices are now 0.5% ahead of this time last year as prices rebound after the Budget.¹
- However, the number of available homes for sale is the highest it’s been at this time of year since 2014, and with a third of existing homes for sale seeing a price reduction, new sellers should be wary of being too optimistic on price.¹
- An early snapshot of activity shows that in the two weeks post-Christmas, buyer demand rose by 57% compared to the two weeks before Christmas, while the number of newly-listed homes for sale jumped by 81%.¹
- Rightmove recorded its busiest Boxing Day ever for visits to the platform, as movers began their 2026 search.¹
- According to Zoopla confidence to move has returned after Autumn Budget uncertainty, with buyer demand tracking in line with 2024.²
- They say average mortgage rates have reached the lowest level since 2022, fuelling the desire to move.²
- It adds that the higher housing supply gives buyers more choice and makes pricing even more important for those thinking of selling.²
In terms of the Welsh property market –
- The average house price in Wales is now £258,194, up 0.9% over the last month, and down 1.6% year on year¹.
- The average number of days for a Welsh property to find a buyer has risen to 84¹.
¹Source – Rightmove
²Source – Zoopla
National Overview
Here is our monthly overview of the trends that Rightmove and Zoopla – two of the biggest names in the property market – have been seeing over the last month.
Rightmove’s Insights –
Rightmove says that it’s an encouraging start to the year, with sellers confident to list their homes at higher prices after several months of muted price growth last year. This coincides with more potential buyers returning to the market.
They say that while some buyers, particularly first-time buyers, won’t be happy to see prices rising quickly, asking prices have only returned to where they were in summer 2025 – before the various Budget rumours started denting confidence and unsettling the market.
This confidence at the start of 2026 is a positive sign, but they warn that sellers should listen to their agent when setting their asking price and avoid being overly optimistic. With the number of homes for sale at this time of year at a 12 year high, buyers have plenty of choice and a third of properties that were already on the market for sale have opted for a price reduction. As a result sellers need to be realistic about their pricing and balance price with the potential to find a buyer in their local market.
They say that while it is early days there are encouraging signs that more home-movers are now planning to move in 2026. Rightmove saw a record number of visitors to its site on Boxing Day and a big bounce in activity after the quieter festive period. Mortgage rate cuts also support those looking to move, providing a positive start to the year. Alongside wage rises, typical home-movers are seeing their affordability improve by around £100 per month.
Zoopla’s Insights –
Zoopla has also seen a strong seasonal increase in buyer interest in January, following a quieter end to 2025. It says many would-be buyers delayed their decision about moving due to the uncertainty surrounding the Budget, but their data shows that confidence has started to return.
It says that demand at the start of 2026 mirrors that of 2024, although it is 9% lower than the very busy start of 2025 when the end of stamp duty relief in April drove buyers to rush through their purchases. One notable difference to last January is the amount of choice currently available to buyers. The number of homes for sale is 6% higher than last year – it says the average estate agent is currently marketing 34 properties – the highest level in eight years. As a result buyers have more choice, while sellers face more competition.
Zoopla adds that there’s been a sharp increase in the number of newly listed homes for sale and more sales agreed recently, but both measures are below last year’s levels.
Regional Insight from Cardigan Bay Properties
We specialise in the property market in West Wales and monitor developments here throughout the year to give you the best, most accurate advice. We cover the key regions of Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, and this month Helen Worrall, one of our founders, outlines the key trends we’ve seen through January 2026. If you’d like to find out more please get in touch.
According to our latest agents report from Zoopla, the year on year price growth for our area is up 2.3% – this compares to the national growth of 1.2%. However properties in our region stay on the market for 47 days on average, compared to 40 days nationally.
Here at Cardigan Bay Properties we’ve seen an incredibly busy January – the number of valuations we carried out was up 36% compared to January 2025, while the number of viewings we hosted increased by 31%. In addition to this we saw a big jump in offers being made and accepted – offers accepted were up over 200% compared to January 2025 – underlining the renewed confidence in the market following November’s Budget.
We also saw an increase in the number of new property instructions we received – up 43%, while the number of new house hunters registering with us increased by 24%.
So, overall it has been an extremely positive start to the year. The Boxing Day Bounce this year was stronger than normal for us, but that has continued thanks to the certainty brought from the Budget. The fact that there were no changes made on Stamp Duty for properties over £500,000 has freed up the higher end of the market and that, combined with the continued falling interest rates, has given the market a strong footing as we head into the key spring season.
Your Regional Insights
Here we give you an overview of the latest House Price Index results for our key regions – Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire. Please note that each month these figures are two to three months behind due to the Land Registry taking longer to register new sales, so this report includes sales up to the end of November 2025.
To help you follow the trends for these regions, the graphs below show figures from July 2019 (pre-Covid pandemic) to November 2025.
CEREDIGION
November 2025 saw a strong increase in the average property price in Ceredigion – up to £228,854 from £217,347 in October. All of the different property types saw an increase – the average price of detached properties increased to £305,887 (from £290,224); semi-detached properties increased to £196,352 (from £186,680); terraced properties increased to £174,026 (from £165,398) and flats increased to £108,432 (from £103,015).
In addition, the monthly percentage change for the region increased by 5.30%, with all property types seeing an increase of between 5.20% – 5.40%.
Looking at the yearly percentage change however, the average property price dropped 6.9%, with the biggest drop being seen for flats, which fell 9.6% over the year, followed by detached properties, which fell by 7.6%.
View the full Ceredigion report.
PEMBROKESHIRE
The average property price in Pembrokeshire fell to £209,122 in November 2025 – down from £215,756 in October. All property prices experienced a drop – the average price of detached properties fell to £303,010 (down from £312,317 in October); semi-detached properties fell to £191,597 (down from £197,774); terraced properties fell to £160,424 (down from £165,691); and flats fell to £111,163 (down from £114,746).
The yearly percentage change was down by 5.2% overall, with the biggest drops seen by flats – down 8.9%, followed by detached properties which fell 5.6%. The smallest drop was seen by semi-detached properties – down 3.8% over the year.
The monthly percentage change was also down 3.10%, with all property types seeing a drop of between 3 – 3.20%.
View the full Pembrokeshire report.
CARMARTHENSHIRE
The average property price in Carmarthenshire increased slightly in November 2025 to £198,688 (up from £196,829 in October), with all property types seeing an increase. The yearly percentage change for properties overall was up 2.6% in November, however this comes after an annual increase of 3.4% in October. The biggest increase was seen for semi-detached properties which increased by 3.7% over the year, followed by terraced properties – up 2.8%.
In terms of the monthly percentage change, Carmarthenshire property prices increased by 0.9% overall over the month, with detached properties showing the biggest growth – up 1%, followed by semi-detached and terraced properties, which both saw 0.90% growth, and finally flats which grew by 0.80%.
View the full Carmarthenshire report.
CURRENT UK HOUSE PRICE INDEX
* As of November 2025, the average house price in the UK is £271,188, and the index stands at 103.9.Property prices have risen by 0.3% compared to the previous month, and risen by 2.5% compared to the previous year.
*Details provided by the Land Registry. For more information on the House Price Index please CLICK HERE
Please note that the stats provided by the UK House Price Index are live and constantly evolving.