HOUSE PRICES are continuing to slide downwards in Northern Ireland according to the latest industry research, which shows the average price of a house has fallen to £163,459 (€197,407).
Three years ago at the height of the North’s short-lived property boom, the average price of a house hit more than £215,000 – which was ahead of prices in Scotland, Wales and the whole north of England. Today, Northern Ireland is experiencing the worst property slump of any region in the UK.
The latest University of Ulster Quarterly House Price Index, produced in partnership with Bank of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, shows the number of properties sold in the North rose in the second quarter of 2010. But compared to the prices achieved in quarter one, the values of properties fell back.
The university-led research shows that over the previous year there had been a weighted rate of price growth of 2.4 per cent.
The authors of the housing market report, Prof Alastair Adair, Prof Stanley McGreal and Dr David McIlhatton say the findings show the “erratic and uneven behaviour” of the housing market.
“On the positive side, the small rate of annual price growth and the higher volume of transactions are welcome signs.
“The weaker price performance during the spring quarter suggests that recovery of the housing market is fragile,” they said.
Economist Alan Bridle, who is head of economics and research at Bank of Ireland Northern Ireland, said: “There is now a realism that a recovery to pre-crisis levels will only occur over an extended period of years.”
