With the UK housing market set to finish the year with 1.15 million sales completions, property website Zoopla, has revealed some of the consumer trends that shaped the market in the past 12 months.
The most viewed property of 2025
According to Zoopla, the most viewed property in 2025, was a three-bed detached home in Pencader, in Carmarthenshire, Wales.
With its rural setting, solar panels and space to grow vegetables or keep chickens, the home is ideal for those looking to go ‘off grid’, whilst still being close to the nearby village.
The second most-viewed property in 2025 was a luxurious six-bed villa in Prestwick, Scotland. The house is priced at £1.8m and features an indoor ‘leisure wing’ with swimming pool, sauna, steam room and gym as well as a floodlit multi-sport pitch, it’s truly a rare find,
On Zoopla’s social media, the most popular listing was Doris from Gavin & Stacey’s terraced home in Barry.
The property was listed for £220,000, and is situated on the famous hilly street and features an open-plan lounge and diner, two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Most popular months for the property sector
January was the most popular month for visitors to the Zoopla website. The site said that this aligns with the ‘Boxing Day Bounce’ on the 26th of December and the new year which traditionally drives an increase in property searches.
May was the most popular month to list a home for sale on Zoopla. According to HMRC, March was the busiest month of the year for completions with 178,000 property transactions completed in the UK with a value of £40,000 or more.
Average time to sell a house in UK
The average time to sell in 2025 was 38 days, up from 35 days in 2024, with three-bed terraced properties the most popular property type, accounting for 18 per cent of buyer enquiries.
Falkirk is the fastest-moving property market in the UK, with a time to sell of just 13 days, along with West Dunbartonshire (13 days), North Lanarkshire (13 days) and East Ayrshire (13 days).
All of the top ten fastest-moving markets are located in Scotland, where properties are listed with a valuation and survey upfront, driving speedier agreements on sales.
Sunderland was the fastest-moving market in England and Wales with a time to sell of 23 days, along with Bedford (23 days), Knowsley (23 days) and Carlisle (23 days).
Trending keywords
When looking at on-site searches, ‘garage’ takes the top spot for keyword searches on the property website, replacing ‘freehold’ which took the top spot for the past two years.
This is followed by ‘annexe’, as well as ‘double garage’, ‘acres’ and ‘pool’, as potential buyers search for additional features, and additional space in their homes.
Property prices
The borough of Kensington and Chelsea is regarded as the most expensive local authority in the UK in 2025 with an average house price of £1.07m – which is ten times more expensive than the cheapest local authority of Inverclyde, which has an average house price of £109,400.
Outside of London, Elmbridge in Surrey takes the top spot with average house prices of £705,800, followed by South Buckinghamshire – home to the UK’s least affordable town, Beaconsfield – with average house prices of £671,400.
Housing market in 2026
According to Zoopla, following a period of hesitance in the housing market amid property tax speculation in the lead up to the Autumn Budget, it is anticipating a boost in momentum for the sector heading into 2026.
Potential buyers in the £500,000 – £2m bracket will be “breathing a sigh of relief” and as a result, Zoopla expects a steady year ahead, with sales remaining around 1.15 million, consistent with 2025.
Zoopla said that mortgage lending is expected to stay competitive, and first-time buyers should prioritise understanding their affordability as the first step in their home-buying journey.