House prices trending into negative territory for just second time in a decade
The latest research by Yopa has revealed that average monthly house price growth across Britain has slipped into negative territory in 2026, marking only the second time this has happened over the last decade.
Yopa analysed the average monthly rate of house price growth across Britain, England, Wales and Scotland between 2016 and 2026 so far, in order to assess how market momentum has shifted over time.
The research shows that despite the challenges faced by the property market throughout 2025, house prices still increased by an average of 0.15% per month across the year, although this represented a slowdown on the 0.24% average monthly growth recorded in 2024.
Looking across the last decade, 2021 was by far the most buoyant year for the market, with house prices climbing by an average of 0.63% per month, driven by exceptionally strong pandemic-era demand and the stamp duty holiday.
However, so far in 2026, house prices across Britain have fallen at an average monthly rate of -0.22%, as higher borrowing costs, continued affordability pressures and wider economic uncertainty have caused buyer demand to soften and sellers to reassess their pricing strategy in order to secure a sale.
Over the last decade, the only other year to have recorded a negative average monthly rate of growth was 2023, when house prices declined by -0.23% per month on average.
While the current market slowdown is being seen across Britain as a whole, Yopa’s analysis shows that the pace of decline differs considerably across the nations.
England has seen the softest decline so far in 2026, with house prices edging down by an average of -0.16% per month. In contrast, Wales has seen a far sharper slowdown, with prices falling by -0.75% per month on average, while Scotland has recorded an average monthly decline of -0.45%.
Verona Frankish, Chief Executive Officer at Yopa, commented:
“House price growth can often be erratic and heavily influenced by seasonality, economic conditions and wider buyer sentiment.
However, when we look at the average monthly rate of growth over the course of a year, it gives us a far clearer picture of the overall direction of the market.
Over the last decade, that direction has been overwhelmingly positive, with 2023 previously standing as the only year where average monthly growth slipped into negative territory.
Whilst the market entered 2026 on a relatively positive footing, a combination of economic uncertainty, affordability pressures and wider geopolitical instability has since caused momentum to soften and, as it stands, house prices are currently trending downwards across Britain.
That said, topline figures rarely tell the full story and, even at a national level, it’s clear that some areas of the market are proving more resilient than others.
For sellers, this means understanding the importance of local market conditions and pricing realistically from the outset. Buyers remain active and homes are still selling, but achieving alignment between seller expectations and current market realities is absolutely crucial when it comes to securing a successful sale.”
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