The housing market in Northern Ireland has continued to soar, climbing nearly 11% in the last year, according to the market’s most accurate measures.
The move confirms recent industry reports which cited a lack of new supply as one of the main reasons for the increase, with house hunters still on the lookout for larger properties following recent lockdowns.
However, the volume of sales was healthy with 7,529 transactions recorded for the July to September period, up from 5,298 last year. Agents reported in the last RICS report that sales volumes had ticked lower in the most recent months.
The desire to move to more rural areas is borne out in the fact prices have jumped most in holiday spots. Causeway Coast and Glens saw prices jump 19.1% in the last year while in Newry, Mourne and Down they were up 18.3%.
Land & Property Services said the average price of a house stood at £159,109 in the third quarter of the year, a jump of 10.7% on the same period last year and up 3% on the second quarter. That ranges from £140,983 in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon to £183,392 in Lisburn and Castlereagh.
Meanwhile, terrace properties have witnessed the sharpest increase in the last year, climbing 13.3% to an average of £113,617, followed by detached houses which climbed 11.6% to £239,839, semi-detached which were up £153,285 and apartments which climbed just 3.4% to £117,784.
For those concerned of a housing price boom, historical data sets the latest move into context.
During the boom just ahead of the credit crunch, average house prices in Northern Ireland reached £224,670 in 2007. Northern Ireland is one of only a handful of º£½ÇÊÓƵ districts where prices remain below the 2007/2008 peak with average prices nearly one third below the record high..
Also telling is the ratio of house prices to average salaries, a key indicator used by banks when deciding on mortgage lending.
In 2007 average house prices were 9.2 times average salaries while for 2021 that level stands at just 5.3.
