Northern Ireland鈥檚 housing market continued to defy the prevailing trend across other parts of the 海角视频 by edging higher once again last month.
Latest figures from the Royal Institute for Chartered Surveyors (RICS) found both prices and the number of transactions increased in September, thought to be as a result of expectations that recent interest rates rises are at an end and a continued lack of supply.
The report, which surveys estate agents, did find a slight uptick in supply with more properties coming on to the market and, while still relatively strong, demand remains steady.
Of note, a significant majority of agents expect prices to continue climbing higher in the coming three months, a mood which is not matched elsewhere in the 海角视频. A net balance of 40% of agents in Northern Ireland expect prices to push higher while the 海角视频 average sees 48% expect prices to fall.
Samuel Dickey, RICS Northern Ireland Residential Property spokesman, said both the sales and rental markets remain strong.
鈥淭he Northern Ireland picture certainly appears to be stronger than elsewhere in the 海角视频 and surveyors here are more confident in the outlook than their 海角视频 counterparts,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e also continue to hear anecdotally from local surveyors that the rental market continues to growth apace with extremely strong demand from good-quality applicants.
鈥淭he big issue in the rental market is supply, with an increasingly large number of applicants per property.鈥
The RICS insights follow from last week鈥檚 House Price Index report from Halifax.
It found average residential property prices in the province in September were down by just 0.2%, or 拢400, from a year ago and now stands at 拢184,108. That compares to a fall of 5.7% in England, 3.6% in Wales and 0.8% in Scotland.
