Average house prices have dipped after record highs in April and May, according to a property website, Rightmove.
Across Britain in June, the average price tag on a home coming to market has fallen by £1,277, or 0.3 per cent month-on-month, to £378,240.
Rightmove described the price dip as “unusual” for June, comparing it with an average increase in June of 0.4 per cent over the past decade.
However, the decrease follows stronger-than-expected price growth in April and May and appears to be in part a delayed response to increased stamp duty costs for some buyers from April, which applies in England and Northern Ireland, the report said.
A decade-high level of buyer choice was also said to be putting downward pressure on prices.
Rightmove said that more competitive pricing is helping sales activity, with May seeing the strongest month of sales agreed since March 2022.
Some segments of the property market are performing more strongly in terms of pricing than others, driven by buyer affordability and supply levels – and with more new sellers still coming into the market than new buyers, pricing realistically remains key for a successful sale – the website added.
Colleen Babcock, a property expert at Rightmove, said “agents have been telling us that sellers need to set a competitive price to have a better chance of finding a buyer in the current market, and it looks like many are listening and responding to that message.
“Such realistic pricing will remain key in the coming months.
“Underneath the headline figures, we can see regional variations in price changes this month, which appear closely linked to buyer affordability and supply levels.”
Buyers in parts of southern England have been disproportionately affected by April’s stamp duty changes, and some sellers may be adjusting their prices downwards to account for this, Rightmove said.
“It’s an encouraging market for those looking to buy, with a very good choice of homes for sale, which also means they have good negotiating power,” she said.
“Some buyers with a home to sell in the current high-supply market may achieve a lower price on their own sale, but could look to offset that by negotiating a comparable discount on their purchase.
“The fact that sales are being agreed not only at a good level, but at the strongest level since March 2022, is a really positive sign that many are getting their sales tactics right.
“Rightmove’s analysis shows that homes which are marketed as effectively as possible and priced right at the start of marketing will get the all-important early interest that vastly increases the likelihood of finding a buyer.”
Josephine Ashby, managing partner of John Bray Estates in Rock, Cornwall, said that the “combination of a rare abundance of high-quality properties at much reduced guide prices in the prime coastal areas is resulting in the tide finally turning in a positive way”.
“The sunny weather and Cornwall looking at its very best inevitably help.
“The established and prime locations are still winning, especially at the top end of the market, giving buyers the confidence to purchase in those areas.”
The report was released as a separate index, from property firm Hamptons, indicated that 17 per cent fewer tenants were registering in lettings branches across Britain in May compared with a year earlier.
Demand is cooling as more tenants become homeowners and weaker demand has reduced rental price growth, Hamptons said.
Across Britain, the average rent for a newly let property rose by 1.5 per cent in the 12 months to May 2025, reaching £1,366 per month.
In May 2024, average rents were increasing by 5.1 per cent annually.
Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, said: “In a similar trend to the years following the last economic downturn, falling interest rates have reduced the pace of rental growth.
“Landlords rolling off short-term fixed-rate mortgages are now seeing their monthly payments fall, reducing the need to pass on further costs to tenants.
“At the same time, lower mortgage rates are changing the arithmetic for tenants who are thinking about buying.”
Ms Beveridge added: “It has taken the best part of two years for the pace of rental growth to fall from double digits down to 1.5%.
“This means that rents are now rising at a rate that’s close to their long-term average, and suggests that the era of rapid rental growth is behind us for now.
“That said, rental growth is unlikely to cool much further.”
The Hamptons Lettings Index uses data from the Connells Group to track changes to the cost of renting. It is based on rental prices achieved rather than advertised rents.
