The latest house price data shows a housing market that remains relatively subdued, with modest changes in average values over the past couple of months. While headline average prices show limited movement, underlying patterns differ between regions and types of data (something we often see when comparing different house price measures).

Here’s a clear snapshot from the major indices covering December 2025 and January 2026.

Halifax House Price Index – December 2025

According to the Halifax House Price Index, the average UK house price in December 2025 stood at £297,755. This represented a monthly fall of -0.6%, with prices lower than in November and at their lowest level since mid-2025. On an annual basis, growth remained positive but modest at +0.3% year-on-year.

Halifax commented that while the close of 2025 might feel subdued, overall activity stayed resilient and broadly in line with pre-pandemic averages.

Nationwide House Price Index – December 2025

The Nationwide index also showed a softening in prices at the end of 2025. It reported an annual increase of +0.6%, which was slower than earlier in the year, and a monthly decrease of -0.4% in December. 

Nationwide noted that this represented a slower pace of growth compared with the previous year, reflecting broader affordability pressures and a high comparison base.

Rightmove Asking Prices – January 2026

Rightmove’s data for January 2026, based on new seller asking prices, showed a different picture from listing values at the start of the year. The average asking price rose by +2.8% month-on-month, with overall asking prices slightly ahead of where they were at the same point last year.

This suggests that sellers may be positioning prices more optimistically in early 2026, even though actual sales data can lag these asking price changes.

Hometrack UK House Price Index – End of 2025

Hometrack’s latest report for late 2025 shows that overall UK house price inflation remained modest, with prices up around +1.1% over the year. 

The report highlights that housing sales were at their highest level for several years and that first-time buyers accounted for a significant share of market activity. 

While price inflation was not rapid, it remained positive overall, and modest growth was projected to continue into 2026.

Our Thoughts

Across the different measures, the most consistent theme is that house price changes over late 2025 and into early 2026 have been relatively muted:

• Annual price growth is positive on most mainstream measures, but the pace of growth has clearly slowed compared with earlier years.
  
• Month on month changes vary depending on the index. Halifax and Nationwide show small downward moves in late 2025, whereas asking prices measured by Rightmove rose in early 2026.
  
• Different indices tell slightly different stories because they measure different parts of the market such as agreed prices at mortgage approval, completed sales, or asking prices. It’s normal for these to diverge, especially around seasonal transitions.
  
• Regional patterns continue to matter; generally, more affordable regions have shown stronger relative growth than higher cost southern areas, although these variations can shift over time.

What this means for homeowners and movers is that average prices are not falling sharply, but neither are they rapidly increasing. Stability in prices can be useful for planning. It means that if you are thinking about moving, remortgaging, or downsizing, you can base your decisions on actual data, not market headlines.

Information correct at time of writing – January/February 2026.