Home movers are continuing with deals despite mortgage rate rises, the website said.
The average price tag on a home jumped by around £3,000 in March, indicating a steady housing market so far despite global uncertainties, according to a property website.
Across Britain, the average asking price for a newly listed home in March was £371,042, Rightmove said.
This was 0.8% or £3,023 higher than the previous month and is typical for the increase usually seen at this time of year, the website said.
The return of monthly price growth reflects the start of the spring selling season.
But the pace of increases remains modest, in line with the average seen by Rightmove over the past 20 years but lower than the last two, according to the report.
Mortgage rate turbulence has been taking place in recent weeks.
Britain’s biggest lenders, and many smaller ones, have been hiking their rates as swap rates, which are used to price mortgages, have risen. The conflict in the Middle East has caused concerns about the impacts on the economy and rising prices.
Financial information website Moneyfacts said last week that it had seen mortgages disappearing from the market at the fastest pace since the 2022 mini-budget, with some average mortgage rates topping the 5% mark.
By Friday last week, Moneyfacts said that at least 530 homeowner mortgage deals had vanished from the market since Monday March 9.
Colleen Babcock, a property expert at Rightmove, said she would describe the start of this year’s spring market as “steady rather than strong”.
She said: “With the number of homes for sale at its highest level for over a decade, buyers have plenty of choice.”
Ms Babcock added: “In this kind of market, being not only competitive on price, but competitive from the outset when setting an asking price for your home is critical.
“Our research shows that relying on later price reductions is a much tougher and less effective strategy when buyers are very price-sensitive and have so many alternatives to choose from.”
Rightmove said that market activity in March appears stable so far despite geopolitical uncertainty, suggesting that home movers are continuing with deals despite mortgage rate rises.
It said the number of sales being agreed is only 2% behind the strong market seen this time last year, and 5% ahead of 2024.
The lower‑priced North of England, Scotland and Wales are seeing stronger annual price growth than the more expensive southern England.
The North West of England is leading the way with a 2.6% annual increase in prices compared with a 2.1% annual fall in London, Rightmove said.
Smaller homes with two bedrooms or fewer are particularly likely to have seen prices edging down annually, while middle market homes are particularly likely to have seen increases, with “top of the ladder” homes seeing prices remain broadly unchanged, it added.
Slight price falls for smaller homes may provide a window of opportunity for deposit-ready first-time buyers this spring, Rightmove said.
Ms Babcock added: “Market activity remains stable so far in March which is encouraging given the new global uncertainty over the last few weeks, though it’s too early to tell what may happen later down the line.
“That said, uncertainty is never helpful for market activity, and it’s come at a time when confidence and optimism would usually be building as the spring market gets under way.”
The Bank of England is due to announce its next base rate decision on Thursday, with many financial experts now believing a cut is less likely.
Matt Smith, a mortgage expert at Rightmove, said lenders have changed their fixed-rate mortgage pricing “to reflect the (Bank of England base rate) remaining flat for longer.”
Jeremy Leaf, a north London estate agent, said: “Despite inevitable worries that the present geopolitical uncertainty will increase upward pressure on inflation and mortgage payments, we have seen no price reductions or withdrawals from agreed sales in our offices other than for property-related reasons.
“Most buyers are obviously nervous about the impact of the conflict but are adopting a ‘wait an see’ stance for now at least.
“These figures from Rightmove reflect asking prices rather than sales values and determine whether genuine buyers are attracted so may take a little longer to reflect any change in sentiment.
“Sellers should know confidence takes a long time to build but can disappear quite quickly and the market continues to be price-sensitive, bearing in mind particularly high stock levels.”
Nathan Emerson, chief executive of property professionals’ body Propertymark, said: “Consumers are generally in a far stronger position to purchase a property than they were a year ago, mainly due to several successive base rate cuts and falls in the rate of inflation as well.
“Our member agents have reported an encouraging start to the year, with a sense of resilience when looking at the number of properties being placed for sale and the number of viewings on each available property too.
“Housing continues to play a driving role in the UK economy, and we are continuing to see progression regarding overall affordably.
“Across the last 12 months, we have seen a near 15% drop in the magnitude of fall-throughs reported per member branch, helping demonstrate a stronger degree of determination from both buyers and sellers alike to complete on their transaction.”
Nigel Bishop, of buying agency Recoco Property Search, said: “General buyer and seller motivation is expected to hold momentum but some house hunters await the Bank of England’s upcoming decision to cut interest rates. This, however, looks unlikely amid the impact of current geopolitical developments on the wider economy.”
Rightmove’s report was released as property firm Savills estimated that UK housing costs reached £226 billion in 2025.
The analysis of private and social rents, and owner occupier mortgages found housing costs have grown by £8 billion over the past year and by £66 billion over the past five years.
Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills, said: “In 2025, the burden of higher mortgage costs has been felt mainly by households coming off longer‑term fixed‑rate deals. At the same time, we’ve seen a return to much more normal levels of rental growth.
“In a market where homeowners are fixing their mortgages for longer, the impact of higher interest rates on housing costs – and on households’ ability to spend elsewhere in the economy – tends to have a much longer tail.
“Until recently, 2026 looked set to offer some respite, but that is now less certain given the prospect of another wave of inflation, which mortgage markets are typically quick to price in.”
Meanwhile, property firm Hamptons estimated that if the private rented sector had continued to grow at pre-2016 rates, there could be an estimated 2.2 million more privately rented households across Britain.
It said March 2026 marks 10 years since a second home stamp duty surcharge was introduced for additional property purchases.
Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, said: “Almost overnight, the market tilted away from investors, meaning far fewer homes have been added to the rented sector and more have found their way into owner-occupation over the last decade.
“However, large stamp duty bills have also brought side effects, particularly as the wider tax and regulatory environment for landlords has tightened.
“Tenants who can’t afford to buy, or don’t want to, have seen rents rise faster than inflation, while those on the margins of the market have found it increasingly difficult to find somewhere to rent in the first place.
“Domestic and international landlords were once some of the biggest buyers of city centre flats.
“Prior to 2016, housebuilders often had waiting lists of investors, sometimes years before they even put a spade in the ground.
“Their partial withdrawal has reduced viability and slowed the pace of housebuilding, particularly in the new-build apartment sector, where sales are now taking longer and often completing at lower prices.”
