The property portal said that the rise will come “as income growth steadily eases the impact of higher mortgage rates”.
It added that prices were static in May compared to the previous month.
Zoopla pointed to signs that market activity is beginning to slow. Sales agreed are down slightly month-on-month across all regions, led by the North East (-6%) and West Midlands (-5%) as the overall stock of homes for sale continues to grow across all areas.
On an annual basis, new sales agreed are still 8% higher, demand is up 6% and a fifth (19%) more homes are on sale than a year ago.
Three-quarters of this year’s sales completed or in progress
Zoopla’s data shows that the market is on track for 1.1 million sales in 2024.
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It said that 75% of sales expected this year are either already completed or agreed and working toward a completion – with a quarter of a million sales yet to be agreed.
The 1.1 million sale figure is 10% higher than 2023 but still below the 20-year average.
Regional variation
House prices in the South of England are expected to continue to under-perform the UK average, said Zoopla.
It noted that price falls are currently greatest in the Eastern region (-1.4%) and South East (-1%), with Canterbury in Kent topping the list with the biggest price fall (-4.1%).
Prices are rising by up to 3.3% in Northern Ireland and 1.5% in the North West region, with Sunderland experiencing a 5.2% price increase.
Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, said: “The housing market continues to adjust to higher borrowing costs through modest house price falls and rising incomes.
“Buyers using mortgages are also relying on longer mortgage terms to gain that extra few percentage points of buying power to afford a home.”
Guy Gittins, Foxtons’ CEO, added: “While house price inflation in May is flat, as you could rightly expect before an election, it should be noted that we’ve seen consistently positive demand and sales agreed activity across 2024.
“With forecast house price rises now roughly in line with current inflation rates, it’s still very clear that property ownership is high on the agenda for hundreds of thousands of people across the UK.”
