House prices in southern England have dipped for the first time in 18 months, according to Zoopla. After a busy summer, the market has cooled as households paused to rethink their plans amid Budget rumours, the property firm said in its November index.
Elsewhere, prices are still on the up. Values have climbed by up to 3% in the North West and by 2% to 3% across northern England, Scotland and Wales, where demand remains steady.
Speculation about new taxes on homes over £500,000 has weighed more heavily on the south, where more than a third of properties for sale sit above that price. With stock now 8% to 15% higher than a year ago, buyers have more choice — and that’s helping to nudge prices down. Mortgage rates are holding steady, even though stamp duty bills rose after reliefs ended in April 2025.
Overall, UK prices are 1.3% higher than a year ago. That’s similar to last month and just below the 1.7% growth recorded a year earlier.
Buyer demand is 12% lower than last autumn, while agreed sales are down 4% year-on-year. Eastern England has seen the sharpest slowdown of up to 9%, while Scotland, the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber are largely unchanged.
The Budget’s new property tax will apply only to homes worth more than £2 million, affecting just 0.5% of properties. The government has also ruled out an annual levy on homes over £500,000. Around 210,000 homes fall into this bracket, mostly in southern England, including half of all listings in London. Zoopla expects confidence to recover into 2026 after four quieter months.
Stamp duty thresholds remain fixed, and rising prices mean more buyers are being pulled into higher bands. More than one-third now pay over 2.5% of the purchase price in stamp duty. In southern England and the Midlands, over 90% of existing homeowners face the tax. Typical buyers in towns such as Aldershot and Crawley now pay around 2.5% to 2.6%.
Even so, Zoopla expects activity to build as the new year approaches. With underlying motivation to move still strong, households that held off decisions may return to the market following the Budget.