NI housing market ‘holding up’

Northern Ireland’s housing market is holding up and unlike other parts of the UK has yet to experience any reversal, according to the region’s most authoritative survey of house prices.

The latest University of Ulster Quarterly House Price Index reveals that the annual rate of growth in house prices in the third quarter of this year was 9.85%.

The survey for the quarter from July to September showed that the overall average price of residential property reached a new high of £114,150, a modest increase over the third quarter.

In the previous quarter the annual increase in price was 10.55%, reaching double digits for the first time since 2002. The latest survey shows that the annual rate of growth slowed only slightly.

The authors of the House Price Index - Professor Alastair Adair, Professor Stanley McGreal and Suzanne Allen of the University of Ulster – said: “With an annual rate of increase just below 10%, the market in Northern Ireland does not appear to be suffering any reversal in average price as a result of higher mortgage rates – contrary to some recent surveys of the wider UK market.

“However, we believe the effect of higher rates may become more apparent in future quarters.”

Bank of Ireland’s Head of Research in Northern Ireland, economist Alan Bridle, said: “Overall performance is closely aligned to the buoyancy of the terraced and semi-detached segments which account for 60% of the sample in this survey, and it is here that the ‘critical mass’ of transactions remains around the £100,000 mark.

“Even allowing for mortgage rate rises, the affordability of debt servicing in Northern Ireland remains good for those already on the housing ladder. But there is evidence to suggest that first time buyers are finding it increasingly difficult to raise the deposit needed to get into the market.”

The survey showed considerable variation in house prices across the different regions of Northern Ireland but for most areas the picture is still one of growth.

The value of the Northern Ireland House Price Index, which is calculated relative to the base quarter for the survey in 1984, has risen significantly to a new high of 437.32.

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