"The housing market is holding steady despite events in the Middle East - house price inflation is slower than earnings, which is helping with affordability"
- Richard Donnell - Zoopla
Average UK house prices grew 1.2% in the 12 months to February 2026, reaching £268,000, according to provisional ONS figures. That marks an increase from the revised 1.0% annual growth recorded to January 2026, with the average price now sitting £3,000 higher than a year ago.
Regional breakdown
Regional performance varied considerably.
In England, average prices rose to £290,000, representing an annual growth of 0.8%, while Wales recorded a 2.5% increase to £210,000 and Scotland saw prices climb 2.3% to £187,000. Northern Ireland posted the strongest growth of any nation, with average prices rising 7.5% in the year to Q4 2025 to reach £196,000.
Among English regions, Yorkshire and the Humber led on annual inflation at 3.9%. London moved in the opposite direction, recording a 3.3% fall, making it the weakest-performing English region over the period.
On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, UK house prices edged up 0.1% between January and February 2026, a slight improvement on the 0.1% decline seen in the same period a year earlier. Adjusting for seasonal effects, prices rose by 0.6% over the same month.
Transaction volumes told a more cautious story. HMRC data showed an estimated 102,000 residential property transactions in February 2026 on a seasonally adjusted basis, down 5.6% compared with February 2025. Month-on-month, however, transactions increased by 5.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis.
On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the picture across the nations was mixed. England saw transaction volumes rise 9.7% between January and February 2026, Wales increased 11.7%, and Northern Ireland grew 5.8%, while Scotland recorded a sharp drop of 20.3%.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' February 2026 UK Residential Market Survey noted that buyer demand dipped amid renewed concerns over the interest rate outlook, adding a layer of caution to what the headline UK house price figures might otherwise suggest.
Industry reaction
Richard Donnell, Executive Director of Research at Zoopla, said, "The housing market is holding steady despite events in the Middle East - house price inflation is slower than earnings, which is helping with affordability. Zoopla's data shows buyers are back in the market after Easter, and sales agreed are holding up as committed buyers press ahead."
"Lower mortgage rates will support activity in the coming months, which is good news for record numbers of sellers, but it is still very much a buyer's market. This means sellers have to be realistic on price, which they are currently, explaining why prices are only rising at 1.2%."
Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, comments, “While it is encouraging to see growth within the housing market, we sit in a phase where the forthcoming months are more difficult to foretell from an affordability viewpoint.
“With the wider picture regarding inflation being very complex to fully envisage, the Bank of England will likely choose to approach the situation with extreme caution, as they make their next base rate decision at the end of the month."
“Worst case scenario, some people may find additional pressures being placed on their household finances across the coming months from three distinct angles. Inflation may push up prices on key household purchases, such as the weekly shop. Base rates could also see increases, affecting those with tracker products, as well as those taking on new mortgage deals, and we could see potential fluctuation in energy prices as well."
"We may see an increased need for a cautious and thoughtful approach to household budgeting, particularly if the effects of global unrest continue to have an influence on our economy domestically."
Tomer Aboody, director of specialist lender MT Finance, says, “A minimal increase in average property values over the past 12 months underlines the tough market conditions we are now facing."
“Lack of encouragement of any form from the government has fuelled further hesitation in both buyers and sellers with many pausing and taking a ‘wait and see’ approach. With further reductions in base rate on hold at least for now, and more stamp duty paid due to the lack of any concessions, there is little incentive to make a move.”
