It’s the February half-term holiday, 2026 – so that means ‘busy’.
You just know that Gametime Playtime will be enjoying packed crowds of (very) excited children, the holiday camp at the Hive Foundation will be in full swing, and if you head to Chandos Recreation Ground, you’ll find that, despite the endless drizzle, the children’s play area, football pitches and café will all be full of life!
But if you’re currently selling your home in Edgware, can you expect things to feel as busy? Or is February half-term one of those quieter periods, like the Easter break can be, and like the Summer and Christmas holidays almost always are?
Here are our thoughts as independent local estate agents in Edgware.
What’s happening in the property market?
There is good news as we hit the February half-term break. In bigger picture terms, the property market is broadly positive.
House prices continued their upward trend in January, with Halifax reporting rising UK property values – and, notably, that they have risen above £300,000 for the first time, reaching £300,077 in January on a 12-month average, per the Halifax Price Index.
Here’s what else the Halifax Index in January 2026 has shown:
- Monthly Change +0.7%
- Quarterly +0.1%
- Annual Change +1.0%
What is interesting is that average UK property prices rose from £239,253 in January 2020 to £300,077 in January 2026 – an increase of just over 25% in six years.
Also noteworthy is that the price increase from 2020 to 2023 was 18.7%, compared with the 5.7% increase from 2023 to 2026.
Growth in the past three years, yes; but much more muted than the previous three – and certainly behind inflation. Possibly a sign of prices that had risen too quickly, correcting.
At the same time, last week’s vote by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee was closer than many expected, reflecting ongoing concerns about subdued economic performance.
This may not be great news for the wider economy, but it does, in our view, reopen the possibility of a base rate cut in March, which markets had begun to discount.
Fixed mortgage rates have been edging up again recently, just slightly, following swap rates, which had suggested the market was pricing out near-term cuts.
Perhaps that tension is playing on rate setters’ minds.
For local buyers and sellers, this matters. In areas like ours, where affordability tightens quickly when rates rise, you can be sure we’ll be keeping a very close eye on it and how it affects you.
Which brings us tidily to what probably matters more to you: what about the property market and property prices in Edgware?
Edgware property market strong despite a flatline in property prices
Here in Edgware, at the time of writing, average property prices over 12 months stand at £574,474, roughly the same as where they were a year ago according to Rightmove. And that is positive, because it was not long ago that I was writing about 12 months annual drops of 4%, 5%, even 6% at various points over the past year.
Prices may have flatlined on paper – but the reality is, they have improved, from a reduction to a levelling off; and that is not the same story throughout London, where property values in some boroughs still sit at double-digit drops over the course of the last 12 months.
This is the context we need to consider when discussing your move locally, whether you’re selling, buying, or simply keeping tabs on your home’s value.
It goes to show that whatever is being reported in national news headlines, or revealed by national indices, can be very different from the pictures seen in any local or regional marketplace; however, in particular, the London, South East and East of England markets have been much more subdued, price-wise, than markets in the North of England and the Midlands.
The fact that prices in Edgware are roughly level with where they were a year ago compared to 10%-15% lower, as is the case within just a few miles, speaks volumes about the strength of our local market.
Nevertheless, house prices alone don’t necessarily indicate whether a market is moving in a positive direction.
When you look at the overall 25% increase over six years, you can understand that properties in general have plenty of equity in them. In fact, whether we have seen a flatline in values over 12 months, or were we still looking at the 3-4% drops that have felt normal for much of the last 6 to 8 months, the overall growth we have seen here over not just the past six years, but even for many decades, has been so significant that local sellers could afford to take a reduction this year and still make a comfortable move – especially if they are moving locally or to many locations overseas, where the released equity may convert favourably on current currency exchange rates.
In any case, most people understand that values are relative. As long as there isn’t a negative equity situation, most movers can think of it as transferring equity from one property to another.
In other words, even if a seller has lost some value in their home this year, if the property they are purchasing has also lost a similar value, there is usually no financial reason the move can’t proceed.
It may depend on mortgage rates, which is why what the MPC votes to do next month is of interest, but generally speaking, it is much more a matter of market confidence.
And that is where the local market is showing real strength, despite anything that prices may or may not have done over the past year – and why this February half-term holiday is still likely to feel busy out there in terms of property market activity.
Plenty of choice for buyers
If you are moving home locally, there are definitely encouraging signs that the Edgware market is coming to life as we hit the half-term break.
At the time of writing, Rightmove shows 87 new listings in Edgware over the past two weeks alone, with 494 properties currently for sale overall. This is a healthy level of choice for buyers in general, but that two-week number in particular is another sign of really steady and positive market activity.
But will the February half-term holiday week dampen that rising activity? As mentioned, other holiday periods are known to have that stifling effect on property market activity – Christmas and Summer in particular. But historically, this half-term week in February does not tend to have that same effect.
There will be a bit of holiday-making – particularly amongst the skiers out there – but most people stay at home, perhaps with children off school, but nevertheless not so distracted from life as they often are during those other major holidays.
On top of this, the property market itself is still in that active phase following the post-Christmas/early New Year bounce that we have written about previously (see article here); those who put their Edgware property for sale as part of a ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ drive in early January are starting to go under offer in numbers by around this point, five or six weeks later – and many of them are purchasing another property to move to. This only adds to the swelling number of active buyers who begin their search at around this time, with the idea of a Springtime or early summer move in mind.
So, with listing numbers growing, but competition from other buyers also increasing, if you are buying a property in Edgware right now, it pays to have a plan.
If you’re moving home, clarity is your friend
If you are heading out to view properties this half-term, our strongest piece of advice is to get crystal clear on what you need, what you want (as these can be different), and the reasons you might truly want to be in one particular location rather than another.
That matters far more than the pretty pictures you’ll scroll through online. They can draw you in – but knowing ‘what, where and why’ helps us as professional estate agents truly get to grips with what would work for you, and what could be made to work. You want four bedrooms because you want a dedicated study? You might be missing out on an ideal home with only three bedrooms, but it has a perfectly sized shed at the end of the garden that could be easily converted.
This is why talking through your requirements with a professional is a good first step. It doesn’t mean any obligation, but from our point of view as agents, it means we can be on the lookout for the right property when we are invited to meet potential sellers.
As we can see, the market is picking up and we can feel optimistic about it currently, with a good level of choice available to Edgware buyers. But finding the right property isn’t a tick-box exercise. It’s about finding somewhere that genuinely fits your next chapter – and that is what we want to help people achieve.