The housing market had an eventful 2025. There was a surge in activity ahead of the stamp duty threshold changes in April, followed by a lull in the run-up to a later-than-usual Autumn Budget.
Among all of this, where did house prices rise the most and which areas will be hoping to fare better in 2026?
Here, we reveal the hotspots where prices grew by up to 12%, as well as the areas where values fell by more than 5%, according to Lloyds. We also explain how to find out what your home is worth and what you need to know if you’re considering upping sticks in 2026.
House price hotspots in 2025
Lloyds’ analysis found that properties in Plymouth saw the biggest average increase in value last year. Prices increased by 12.6%, a significant jump compared with the South West’s regional average of 2.6%.
Four areas from the North and three from the Midlands feature in the top 10. The only other southern location on the list is Woking in the South East, which also has the highest average house price of the top 10.
Falkirk in Scotland is a notable entry on the list, as it often features among the areas where homes sell the fastest.
2025’s property losers
Four areas in the south of England feature on the list of areas where prices fell the most in 2025.
Homes in Crawley saw the biggest fall in value, dropping by an average of 8.9%.
No areas in Scotland appear on the list, but the Welsh capital, Cardiff, does.
Overall, seven of the bottom 10 areas recorded average price falls of at least 5%.
Lloyds’ analysis uses its mortgage data to calculate house price changes and offers useful insight into what has been happening in the property market.
However, the most reliable house price data comes from the Land Registry. It uses price paid data from completed sales. As a result, its figures are published with a two-month delay.
This means the Land Registry won’t publish how house prices changed in 2025 until mid-February.
How much is my house worth?
To get the most accurate picture of how much your home is worth, it’s important to look at localised house price data rather than national averages.
The Land Registry’s ‘price paid’ dataset allows you to search sold prices right down to individual houses and streets. The downside is that the data often takes many months to be updated after sales have gone through.
For the most up-to-date view of your local property market, consider looking at property portals such as Rightmove and Zoopla, and speaking to local agents.
Portals list the prices that sellers are asking for their properties, which may not reflect the amount they will actually get, particularly in the current market.
However, portals also show when homes were originally listed and whether they’ve recently been reduced, which can help you assess whether the asking price is realistic.
- Find out more: how much is your house worth?
Thinking of moving in 2026? Things to consider
Experts predict that the housing market will pick up in early 2026 after a slow end to 2025.
There are already signs that the housing market will have a good start to the year. Rightmove announced that visits to the site on Boxing Day almost doubled compared with last year, with activity busiest in the South East, East of England and London.
It’s early days, but Boxing Day’s data suggests agents could have a busy start to 2026 after a quieter festive period during December, which was also impacted by the lateness of the Budget and the uncertainty around potential policies in the lead up to it.
Mortgage rates aren’t expected to fall as much in the next 12 months as they did in the previous year, but rates are still expected to drop in the first three months of 2026. This is due to a combination of lenders competing for borrowers and the expectation of a base rate cut in March.
You’ll also need to weigh up the cost of moving home. Recent research shows it has risen by 27% in the past year, with an average cost of almost £18,000 to move, including costs such as stamp duty, estate agents, conveyancers and house surveys.
If you’re not sure what to do just yet, see our guides on house prices and mortgage rates for the latest data.
- Find out more: best mortgage lenders.