UK house prices grew by 0.3% in February, following a 0.8% increase in January, Halifax has revealed.

The bank’s latest house price index showed that the average UK property price now stands at £301,151, moving towards another record high.

Year-on-year, house prices grew by 1.3%, which is the strongest increase in four months, and was up from 1.1% in January.

Head of mortgages at Halifax, Amanda Bryden, said the latest figures suggest the market has “regained momentum after a softer end to 2025.

She added: "While industry data for January show a slight easing in new mortgage approvals, overall activity has continued to prove resilient. There’s no doubt that affordability remains stretched, supply is constrained, and regional disparities persist. For those without family support, the path to home ownership feels particularly challenging.

"However, conditions have been gradually improving, with easing interest rates and real wage growth helping to support buyer confidence. As ever, timely and expert advice remains key to helping more people achieve their goal of stepping onto the property ladder."

In terms of regions, Northern Ireland continues to lead the UK housing market, with average prices increasing by 6.3% year-on-year to £218,608.

Scotland (£222,286) and Wales (£231,637) also recorded respective growth of 4.7% and 2.6%.

In England, stronger house price growth remained concentrated in the North, with the North East recording a 3.5% increase in house price growth to £181,838. In the North West, the average house price stood at £246,292, marking a 2.9% jump year-on-year.

However, Halifax said prices continued to ease in the South of England. The South East recorded a decline of 2.2% year-on-year to £383,834, while London's average house price fell by 1% to £538,200.

Personal finance analyst at Bestinvest, Alice Haine, said the latest data comes as the house market faces a number of issues going forward.

She concluded: "Now the housing market has a fresh challenge: conflict in the Middle East that has sent energy prices soaring, creating an inflationary headwind which may cloud the outlook for interest rates, just at a point when borrowing costs had eased into more palatable territory.

"The Bank of England had been expected to cut interest rates at its next Monetary Policy Meeting on March 19, supported by easing inflation, concerns over rising unemployment and sluggish economic growth – with the potential for further cuts later in the year. However, fears are now mounting that rate cuts may be delayed, or worse, that the Bank may even need to raise rates again to counter a fresh inflationary shock driven by surging energy prices.

"Inflation eased back to a 10-month low of 3.2% in January, with expectations it could fall closer to the BoE’s 2% target by April. But those projections have now been overtaken by events in recent days. For the mortgage market, this creates a renewed sense of uncertainty."

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