A shift in UK home buying is expected in the next few months – here’s what you should know

UK house price growth continued to slow in April 2025 on the back of stamp duty changes and other tax obligations. However, the conditions for home buying are expected to improve throughout the rest of the year, which could lead to a shift.

This is according to Nationwide’s latest house price data, which shows the annual rate of house price growth slowed to 3.4% in April, from 3.9% in March. House prices were also down 0.6% month-on-month.

“The softening in house price growth was to be expected, given the changes to stamp duty at the start of the month,” said Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist. “Early indications suggest there was a significant jump in transactions in March, with buyers bringing forward their purchases to avoid additional tax obligations.”

“The market is likely to remain a little soft in the coming months, following the pattern typically observed following the end of stamp duty holidays. Nevertheless, activity is likely to pick up steadily as summer progresses, despite wider economic uncertainties in the global economy, since underlying conditions for potential home buyers in the UK remain supportive.”

Gardner added that there are several key factors which are expected to improve home buying in the coming months.

“Unemployment remains low, earnings are rising at a healthy pace in real terms (i.e. after accounting for inflation), household balance sheets are strong, and borrowing costs are likely to moderate a little if bank rates are lowered further in the coming quarters, as we and most other analysts expect. Indeed, swap rates (which underpin fixed-rate mortgage pricing) have moderated in recent weeks,” he said.