The Coffee Morning Chat, June 2026 UK Property Market
What if you woke up tomorrow and realised the house you’re living in was actually a giant, brick-built savings account that changed its balance every single day? It’s a funny thought, isn’t it? Most of us look at our front doors and think about where we’ll hang our coats or kick off our shoes, but those four walls are also part of a huge national puzzle that’s shifting as we speak.
Right here in null, it’s easy to feel like we’re in our own little bubble. You might notice a "For Sale" sign go up on the next street and wonder if they’ll get their asking price, or see a young couple moving in down the road and think about how they managed to save their deposit. But to understand what's happening on your doorstep, we have to zoom out and look at the whole of the UK. It’s a bit like watching the weather; a big storm over the Atlantic might take a few days to reach us, but it usually dictates whether we need an umbrella or sunglasses by the weekend.
Nationally, the average price of a home currently sits at £284,862. To give you an idea of how much things have changed, just five years ago, that same average house was worth about £244,509. That’s a jump of over £40,000! However, if we look at the last twelve months, things have calmed down significantly. In fact, prices are about 0.4% lower than they were this time last year.
Does that mean the market is "crashing"? Not at all. Think of it more like a runner catching their breath after a long uphill sprint. In the last month alone, prices actually ticked up by a tiny 0.05%—which is basically the property market’s way of standing perfectly still and enjoying the view.
The big boss of the UK economy, the Bank of England, has kept the "base rate" at 3.75%. This is the magic number that banks use to decide how much to charge you for borrowing money. It hasn't moved since 18 December 2025. Because it’s stayed the same for nearly six months, people are starting to feel much more confident. They know what their monthly bills are going to look like, and that’s tempting them back into the shops.
In fact, 63,500 people got their mortgages approved this month. That’s the highest number we’ve seen all year! It tells us that despite prices being much higher than they were a few years ago, people are still keen to get moving. Did you know that while house prices have stayed flat lately, the money people are earning in their jobs has gone up by 3.7% over the last year? This is great news because it means houses are slowly becoming a little bit more affordable compared to what’s in our pay packets.
So, how does this "Big Picture" affect us here in null?
Well, when the national mood is one of "wait and see," we see that reflected locally. If people across the country feel confident because the Bank of England isn't raising rates, it means more buyers are likely to book viewings for homes in null. Even though we are a unique corner of the world, we are connected to the national economy by an invisible thread. When mortgage rates stay steady across the UK, it makes it easier for someone in our neighbourhood to upgrade to a bigger garden or for a first-time buyer to finally get their own set of keys.
Looking ahead to the rest of the summer, I expect the market to stay in this "steady as she goes" lane. We aren't seeing the wild price jumps of a few years ago, but we aren't seeing a tumble either. It’s a sensible, balanced time. For homeowners in null, it means your "brick savings account" is holding its value well, and for buyers, it means you have a bit more breathing room to find the perfect place without feeling like you're in a frantic race.