Rural living proved popular in 2025, with a three-bed detached home in South-West Wales taking the top spot for the most viewed property this year on Zoopla.
The average time to sell in 2025 was 38 days, up from 35 days in 2024. Three-bed terraced properties were the most popular property type. Falkirk in Scotland remains the UK's fastest-moving market, with an average time to sell of 15 days.
May was the most popular month to list a property for sale, while January was the month with the most visitors to Zoopla. Garage and annexe were the most popular search terms in 2025, replacing freehold as last year's frontrunner.
In the first few months of 2026, Zoopla predicts a boost to the housing market following a period of uncertainty amidst Budget property tax speculation.
With the property market set to finish the year with 1.15 million sales completions, 4.5% higher than 2024, Zoopla has revealed key consumer trends and buyer behaviour over the past 12 months.
The most viewed property in 2025 was a three-bed detached home in Pencader, a small village in Carmarthenshire, Wales. With its rural setting, solar panels and space to grow vegetables or keep chickens, the home is ideal for those looking to go off-grid whilst still being close to the nearby village.
The second most-viewed property in 2025 is a luxurious six-bed villa on 11 acres of private grounds in Prestwick, Scotland. Priced at £1,800,000 and featuring an indoor leisure wing with swimming pool, sauna, steam room and gym as well as a floodlit multi-sport pitch, the property represents a rare find.
On Zoopla's social media, the most popular listing was Doris from Gavin & Stacey's terraced home in Barry. Listed for the tidy sum of £220,000, the property is situated on the famous hilly street and features an open-plan lounge and diner, two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
When it came to browsing on Zoopla, January was the most popular month for visitors to the Zoopla website. This aligns with the Boxing Day Bounce on the 26th of December and the new year, which traditionally drives an increase in property searches as people start looking for a new home at the beginning of the year.
May was the most popular month to list a home for sale on Zoopla, as families spend time finding their next home before listing their own. According to HMRC, March was the busiest month of the year for completions, with 178,000 property transactions completed in the UK with a value of £40,000 or more.
The average time to sell in 2025 was 38 days, up from 35 days in 2024, with three-bed terraced properties the most popular property type, accounting for 18% of buyer enquiries.
Falkirk retains the crown as the fastest-moving property market in the UK, with a time to sell of just 13 days, along with West Dunbartonshire (13 days), North Lanarkshire (13 days) and East Ayrshire (13 days). All of the top ten fastest-moving markets are located in Scotland, where properties are listed with a valuation and survey upfront, driving speedier agreements on sales.
Sunderland was the fastest-moving market in England and Wales with a time to sell of 23 days, along with Bedford (23 days), Knowsley (23 days) and Carlisle (23 days).
When looking at on-site searches, garage takes the top spot for keyword searches on Zoopla.co.uk, replacing freehold, which took the top spot for the past two years. This is followed by an annexe, as well as a double garage, acres and a pool, as potential buyers search for additional features and additional space in their homes.
When it comes to the most expensive and cheapest local authorities to purchase a home, the borough of Kensington and Chelsea retains the crown as the most expensive local authority in the UK in 2025, with an average house price of £1,071,600, ten times more expensive than the cheapest local authority of Inverclyde, which has an average house price of £109,400.
Outside of London, Elmbridge in Surrey takes the top spot with average house prices of £705,800, followed by South Buckinghamshire, home to the UK's least affordable town, Beaconsfield, with average house prices of £671,400.
"While there are challenges that remain within the wider economy, it has been a year where the housing market has held its nerve and progressed forward," said Nathan Emerson, chief executive at Propertymark. "Many people are typically feeling a greater sense of confidence than only a year previous, and with inflation forecast to trend further downward over the coming months, we may see the Bank of England feel that much-needed self-confidence to further implement the downward journey for base rates."
"With the Autumn Budget also now behind us and with many people having a clearer picture of what the forthcoming months now look like from a financial viewpoint, we hopefully should witness a positive start for the housing market as we head into early 2026," added Emerson.
Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, said, “In a year when Budget speculation kept a lid on demand for most of the final six months, steady mortgage rates underpinned housing market activity."
"We expect rates to keep drifting lower in 2026 and sub-4% mortgages will become available across a wider range of loan-to-value deals. The tougher financial landscape for buyers after the Budget, including the income tax threshold freeze, will increasingly keep demand in check but the biggest near-term risk is political."
"Budget speculation could turn into conjecture about the occupants of Downing Street and their plans for the economy in the early months of next year.”
