The average price of a house in Northern Ireland has topped the £100,000 mark for the first time, a new report has revealed.

According to the latest Quarterly House Price Index produced by the University of Ulster in partnership with Bank of Ireland and supported by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, not only has the average house price topped the £100,000 mark, but it is also growing in value at a rate of 7.6% a year.

The survey for the first quarter of this year (2003) covered almost 2,100 properties sold across Northern Ireland. It showed the average price of residential property stood at £100,755. The previous highest average was £99,787 set in the third quarter of last year – but this dipped in the last quarter of 2002.

The latest survey confirms that house price inflation in Northern Ireland has slowed since the middle of last year.

The University of Ulster, which gathers information from more than 80 property agents on house sales across all property types, said today that the annual rate of increase of 7.57% in the latest survey was comparable to the growth rate in the previous quarter.

According to the authors of the report - Professor Alastair Adair, Professor Stanley McGreal and Mrs Louise Brown - breaking the £100,000 barrier is a significant milestone for the Northern Ireland market.

The authors said: "The average price of a house, now in excess of £100,000, is the inevitable consequence of a pattern of price growth that is virtually unbroken since the mid-1990s. It is apparent that the upward spiral of price increase is still occurring but with signs of more sustainable price levels and rates of growth over the coming year."

The latest survey showed diverging trends across different property types. Taken over the year, the highest growth in prices was still in semi-detached bungalows, up by almost 18% to £87,566 but with a market share of just 5%.

Terraced houses recorded a 4.9% increase to £70,088; semi-detached houses were up 9.32% to £90,130; detached houses rose 4.03% to £147,927; detached bungalows increased 11.37% to £126,716; and apartments rose 8.46% to £97,855.

Location remains fundamental to property prices. In Belfast the overall average price of £99,331 was up over the year but only by 4.18% adding to the evidence of a slow down in the market.

South Belfast is still the most expensive place to buy a house with an average price of £132,493 while the most affordable area was North Belfast with an average of £77,292.

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