With confidence in the UK housing market remaining strong – despite global events – both Rightmove and Zoopla are reporting an increase in the average price of property coming onto the market. Read more in this month’s house price index report, as well as our own insights from across West Wales.
In Brief
Nationally the market has seen –
- Confidence in the UK housing market remains strong despite uncertainty around global events and pressures on the cost of living.¹
- The average price of property coming to market rises by 1.2% (+£4,333) in May to £378,304.¹
- The number of sales agreed is just 4% below last year when mortgage rates were significantly lower, and the choice of homes available to buyers is at its highest level for this time of year since 2015.¹
- Buyer affordability is the reason behind a clear divide between house price growth in the north and south of England, with the North East (+2.7%) and North West (+2.6%) regions continuing to see growth, while higher-priced London (-2.4%) and the South East (-1.6%) are seeing price drops.¹
- Rightmove’s daily mortgage tracker shows that the average two-year fixed rate has dropped to 5.18%, from 5.42% last month.¹
- Homes are taking just 1 day longer to sell than last year.²
- Homes are selling as fast as last year across more than half of UK regions, despite higher mortgage rates.²
- Buyer demand rebounds after Easter to its highest level since the Middle East conflict began.²
- Sales agreed are holding up, running 3% lower than last year.²
- House price inflation steady at 1.3%, supported by sales agreed.²
- Sales are expected to hold up through 2026 with modest price growth nationally and the North outperforming the South.²
In terms of the Welsh property market –
- The average house price in Wales is now £275,836, up 0.7% over the last month, and up 1.7% year on year¹.
- The average number of days for a Welsh property to find a buyer has dropped significantly to 71¹.
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 activity in the housing market overall remains surprisingly confident in the face of global events and rising costs of living. But it highlights a north south divide in terms of price growth. While the national average shows an annual price drop of 0.3%, house prices in the North East and North West, more affordable areas, are up 2.7% and 2.6% respectively, while London and the South East are seeing price falls.
It says the number of homes on the market is at the highest level since 2015 for the time of year. This level of supply has led to almost a third of listings of existing properties for sale reducing their prices. It stresses that new sellers need to price carefully from the start if they want a faster sale – homes that didn’t need a price reduction sold in just 36 days, compared with 127 days for those that needed a reduction.
It also reports that sales agreed were down by just 4% compared with this time last year, and were 2% higher than the same period in 2024. Despite global uncertainty many buyers are moving on with their plans.
The story is similar for first-time buyers, with this market showing sales down 4% when compared to the strong 2025 market, and only 1% lower than the 2024 market.
Zoopla’s Insights –
Continuing the focus on first-time buyers, Zoopla says they are targeting more expensive homes – worth around £10,000 more than a year ago – and are deciding not to compromise on what they are buying. UK-wide, first-time buyers are aiming to buy homes at an average price of £254,750 – 4.3% higher than a year ago.
Zoopla says this may explain why house price inflation increased slightly this month, despite buyer demand running 10% below last year. It says sales agreed are 1% up compared to last year, with committed movers supporting the sales market.
Zoopla also highlights that while UK house prices are 1.5% higher than a year ago, the reality is that prices in Wales, Scotland and Northern England are rising at 2% to 3.6%. These more affordable markets are seeing a greater impact on house prices from improved mortgage affordability.
In an uncertain market Zoopla says the market is holding up, with fewer buyers than a year ago. However, it highlights that the longer-term consequences of the war in the Middle East on inflation, together with the cost of living, are unclear and it believes uncertainty remains looking into 2027.
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 Tania Dutnell, one of our founders, outlines the key trends we’ve seen through May 2026. If you’d like to find out more please get in touch.
Overall the market in West Wales has continued to be busy, with lots of enquiries from buyers searching for a new property. Sales are performing at the same level as they were last year, which is great considering the uncertain climate that exists at the moment.
The number of viewings we held in May 2026 was up 15% on the May 2025 level, while the number of new buyers registering with us was up 16% year on year. In addition, the number of offers accepted was exactly the same this May as last May.
We’ve also received some industry data particular to Ceredigion, which show that average house prices here are up 0.7% compared to April 2025. A typical home in the region now costs £241,500. This is behind the average house price growth for Wales, which was up 2.5% since April 2025. However, you can read more about the recent performance of all our key regions below.
Your Regional Insights
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 shows figures from July 2019 (pre-Covid pandemic) to March 2026.
CEREDIGION
The average property price in Ceredigion fell to £242,870 (down from £249,528 in February 2026). All property types in the region saw a significant drop.
However, in terms of the yearly percentage change the average property price increased by 7.2%, with the largest increase seen for semi-detached properties – up 8%, followed by detached properties (up 7.4%), then terraced properties (up 6.8%) and flats (up 2%).
The monthly percentage change is down 2.7% overall, with the biggest drop reported for flats (down 3.5%), while detached properties, sem-detached and terraced are all down between 2.5 and 2.7%.
View the full Ceredigion report.
PEMBROKESHIRE
The average property price in Pembrokeshire also fell this month – down to £218,377 from £220,477 in February 2026. Again, this slight drop was seen across all of the individual property types.
In terms of the yearly percentage change, the average property price in Pembrokeshire fell 0.4%. The biggest drop was seen for flats – down 5.5% – however, detached property prices fell just 0.1%, semi-detached properties fell 0.3% and terraced properties were down 0.4%.
The monthly property price change also showed a very slight drop – down 1% overall, with flats again showing the largest fall (down 1.8%) and all other property types falling 0.9%.
View the full Pembrokeshire report.
CARMARTHENSHIRE
In Carmarthenshire the story is a little different, with a very slight increase in the average property price – now at £198,907 (up from £198,293 in February 2026). All property types, except for flats have seen a small increase. Flats however fell from £93,402 in February to £92,840 in March 2026.
The yearly percentage change in the region has increased by 5.5%, with the strongest increase reported for semi-detached properties – up 6.1% over the year. Flats again were the only property type to fall over the year – down 0.5%.
The monthly percentage change also showed a small increase – up 0.3% overall, with detached, semi-detached and terraced properties all reporting this small growth. Flats however again fell 0.6%.
View the full Carmarthenshire report.
CURRENT UK HOUSE PRICE INDEX
* As of March 2026, the average house price in the UK is £268,132, and the index stands at 102.8. Property prices have fallen by 0.4% compared to the previous month, and remained the same 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.
The information here is for guidance only. We always try to ensure that the information we provide is accurate at the time of publishing. The fast moving nature of the property market means that some information may be out of date when you read this article so please do your own research. We accept no responsibility or liability for any decisions you make based on this information.