Overview

• UK house prices rose 1.3% in the year to July, with the average sale price at £270,600, up £3,560 on a year earlier.
• Listings are about 10% higher than a year ago, giving buyers more choice, intensifying competition among sellers and restraining asking prices.
• Oversupply is most evident in southern coastal markets such as Truro, Exeter, Bournemouth and Torquay, where roughly a quarter of listings have sat for more than six months, while areas like Dundee, Wolverhampton, London suburbs and the Northampton area face tighter supply.
• Zoopla cautions that overpricing risks homes taking more than twice as long to sell or failing to sell at all.
• Buyer activity could pause before the autumn budget after reports that the Treasury is considering a tax on sales of homes above £500,000, though any changes remain unconfirmed.