House prices rise at record rate in January - Rightmove
By Abigail Townsend
Date: Monday 19 Jan 2026
(Sharecast News) - UK house prices rocketed in January, industry data showed on Monday, as the market rebounded strongly following last autumn's Budget.
According to the latest house price index from Rightmove, the national average asking price shot up by a record 2.8% this month. It is the largest-ever increase in the month of January, and the largest in any month since June 2015.
The average asking price now stands at £368,031, while the number of available homes for sale is the highest it has been at this time of year since 2014.
Rightmove's Colleen Babcock called it an "encouraging" start to 2026, especially following the muted growth seen in 2025.
"Over the last week, buyer demand is lower than last year, when buyer activity was boosted by some buyers trying to find a property before stamp duty rose in April.
"However, buyer demand is in line with 2024. It's an encouraging early snapshot, and as the start of the year progresses it will become clearer if this momentum is maintained into the peak spring selling season."
The unusually long build-up to last year's Budget - which was held in November, a month later than normal - weighed heavily on consumer sentiment.
However, despite widespread speculation and leaks, in the end the Budget did not include as many tax rises as feared.
Further supporting the housing market since then was a quarter point reduction in the cost of borrowing, to 3.75%, in December, and the prospect of more cuts to come.
Data from Rightmove showed a 57% spike in buyer demand in the two weeks after Christmas Day in 2025, with the number of homes newly listed for sale rising by 81% compared to the fortnight before 25 December.
Rightmove said Boxing Day had been its busiest ever for visits to the platform.
Year-on-year, house prices rose 0.5% in January.
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