Zoopla HPI: UK price inflation steady at 1.3% but London first-time buyers face longer sale times and stamp-duty squeeze

Zoopla's April HPI puts UK house price inflation at 1.3% (down from 1.8% a year ago), with the average home at £271,700. Northern England and Scotland are leading on both growth and speed of sale — Scottish homes change hands in 15 days — while London and commuter areas run roughly a week slower. Four in five London first-time buyers now pay stamp duty equivalent to 3% of purchase price, against fewer than one in ten elsewhere in England. For buyers this is a regional opportunity story; for southern sellers it argues for sharper, evidence-based pricing rather than holding out for last year's numbers.