March saw the end to the stamp duty relief period introduced following the COVID pandemic. From 1st April the taxable bands return to their pre COVID levels and this will impact first time buyers the most although It is worth remembering that first time buyers still pay nothing on purchases up to £300,000. 

 

Such was the clamour to take advantage of the savings, the number of people moving in the last week of March was 92% higher than the weekly average for 2025 so far. 

 

In the immediate aftermath it is likely there will be plenty of discussions around price re-negotiations between buyers and sellers and we would encourage an open mind approach to avoid money spent so far being wasted. 

The average asking price for property in Gloucester is now £287,521 compared to the Gloucestershire average of £391,175. These figures are up 3.7% and 1.6% respectively on this time last year. 

 

The average time to sell property (time from first advertising to agreeing a sale) in Gloucester is now 52 days compared to the UK average of 68 days. Only Carlisle (37 days), Newcastle (45 days) and Plymouth (49 days) are selling faster amongst England’s largest 50 cities. 

For those looking to buy the choice of available property in the UK is at its highest since 2015. 

 

As of 1st April, there were circa 1000 properties available to buy across GL1, GL2, GL3 and GL4. This is almost a 100 more than a month earlier and slightly higher than that for the same time 12 months ago. 

 

New Instructions in March totalled 454 properties, up from 407 in February but also significantly higher than the 378 new listings for in March 2024. 

 

In March across the Gloucester postcodes there were a total of 343 property sales agreed, up on the 295 for February and also up on the 287 from a year ago. Sales across the UK are approximately 9% up on this time last year meaning our area is once again outperforming the national average in a key metric. 

Whilst demand for homes is high these figures clearly show there is also plenty of choice so sensible and accurate pricing remains key. 

 

Of the 1000 plus homes available for sale at the end of March almost half of those had been on the market for at least 8 weeks with 412 on longer than 10 weeks and 364 properties having been available for sale for at least 12 weeks. A staggering 196 properties have been available for sale for longer than 6 months. 

 

Households looking to sell their home in 2025 need to be careful in how they set their asking price to attract sufficient demand to agree a sale. 

 

For buyers it is worth extending their budget search on the portals and looking for properties that may appear out of reach but that have been on the market for a long time. A sensible offer may well be considered on some of those that have been trying to sell for a long time. 

It is good to see sub 4% mortgages available however the average 5 year fixed rate is currently 4.74% which is only slightly lower than 4.84% this time last year. 

 

The mortgage regulator is to look at ways that responsible lending can be simplified, and this includes encouraging lenders to stress test appropriately, making mortgage processes easier for home movers, and in the longer-term, looking at responsible ways that first-time buyers could be permitted to borrow more.  

Santander in the last week have cut their affordability rates by as much as 0.75% which in real terms means borrowers can borrow between £10,000 and £35,000 more than they could last week. 

Latest Spring statement by chancellor Rachel Reeves again raised the issue of the shortage of new homes being built. Whilst it may appear as you drive round there are developments everywhere the reality is there is a real shortage of housing and the Governments plan for change aims to address that by building 1.5 million homes by the end of this parliament. The Office for Budget Responsibility states it is currently on course to achieve 1.3 million, so the planning reforms are set to back builders and developers rather than those seeking to block development. 

The Gloucester property market is certainly proving to be resilient and is performing better than many areas across the UK. As more people adjust to the fact that mortgage rates are not going to come back down to where they were this is likely to continue. Interest rates are forecast to fall slightly as the year unfolds however the as the cost of living increases it is likely that any upward movement on prices will be limited.