UK house prices rise by £3,000 in March

The average house price tag has jumped by nearly £3,000 in March, driven by asking price increases for bigger properties. Photo: Matt Dunham/AP (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Average UK house prices have risen by nearly £3,000 this March, defying market slowdown expectations.

Across the UK, the typical price of a property coming on the market increased by £2,906 or 0.8%, compared with a month earlier, property site Rightmove said.

Overall, asking prices for new sellers still remain £5,800 below their peak in October 2022.

Top of the ladder properties, which make up the largest and most expensive houses for sale, led the national average with a 1.2% increase in prices to £658,702.

Homes for first-time buyers rose by 0.4%, while second steppers looking to move up the property ladder saw a 0.5% rise.

The proportion of buyers inquiring about making a move over 50km away from where they live is now 15%, the same level as 2019 and below its pandemic peak of 18%.

Read more: Six ways to bring down costs on rising mortgage rates

Rightmove also said that signs that inflation may ease back more quickly than previously expected may mean that increases in the Bank of England base rate are more tempered, which will have an impact on mortgages.

Rightmove's Tim Bannister said: "The beginning of the spring season sees stability and confidence continuing to return to the market as it recovers from the turbulence at the end of 2022.

"The pace of the market reached an unsustainable level in the last two years, and was on track to slow to a more normal level, though the speed of this slowdown to more normality was accelerated by the reaction to September's mini-budget.

"While higher mortgage rates and economic headwinds raise challenges, many potential home movers who were effectively side-lined in the frenetic bidding wars of the last two years will find that a slower-paced market gives them time to plan and secure their next move as we enter the traditionally busy spring-buying season."

Read more: UK mortgages: Millions to face loan repayments beyond retirement age

Prices in the north are rising much faster month on month than in London, up 1.1% in the north-west and 2% in the north-east, compared with a fall in the capital.

London’s average asking price fell by 0.1% in March, leaving the average price tag in the capital at just over £680,000.

Watch: How much money do I need to buy a house?

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.