Average house price at £149,263

Terraced/townhouses at 139,429 show a significant price increase over the year indicating that Northern Ireland’s housing market is improving, with the number of transactions at their highest for the past two years according to the latest University of Ulster Quarterly House Price Index, produced in partnership with Bank of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. The statistics show the rate at which house prices were falling had dropped from 35 per cent at the start of 2009 to just below 7 per cent at the end of the year.

The price statistics are based on a sample of 1,050 transactions in the fourth quarter of last year and the report shows there had been a significant increase in the number of sales from recent surveys, suggesting a recovery in the market could be underway.

The survey put the overall average price of a house in Northern Ireland in the fourth quarter of 2009 at 161,429. This represented a weighted decrease of 0.9 per cent compared to the average price in third quarter but represented a slight increase on the average price for the second quarter. The report said this type of variability was to be expected as the market recovers in a slightly hesitant manner.

The survey again showed property was becoming more affordable, with 57 per cent of all properties selling at or below 150,000.

The latest survey again confirmed the problems of getting the resale market fully functioning, with newly-built houses, at 32 per cent of the total, taking a disproportionately large percentage of the sales.