Average NI house costs £240,000
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6969294.stm Version 0 of 1. The average house in Northern Ireland costs more than £240,000, according to the latest survey. The University of Ulster quarterly house price index said houses were rising by £200 a day. The study covers the period from April to June 2007 and showed prices up 51% over the year and by 10.5% over the quarter. However, the authors said they believed the second half of 2007 would see lower rates of price growth. Professor Alastair Adair, Professor Stanley McGreal and Louise Brown said the persistent high rate of annual price increase at just over 50% contrasted with the expectations of the market cooling. They said the opinion of market players was that property was taking longer to sell and some market areas had seen low rates of growth in the second quarter. <a name="story"></a> <a class="bodl" href="#houses">Click here to see the table of results</a> This would "ultimately impact on annual figures later in the year", they said. Alan Bridle of the Bank of Ireland said the survey "confounded expectations" for some price moderation and was "contrary to an increasing amount of anecdotal evidence of a cooling of the market". He added: "The survey shows that the market seems oblivious to such pressures and influences as the rising cost of borrowing and house prices falling on the other side of the border. "There is a general agreement that the long-term health of the Northern Ireland market would be best served by an orderly cooling off in price growth. "This remains our core expectation with a return to a prolonged period of single digit percentage increases on average." Property at or below £100,000 accounted for only 1% of properties in the survey sold. There was also a declining number of properties sold in the next price band of £100,000-£150,000, which accounted for just 10% of sales. <a name="houses"> Annual percentage increases by property type Market sector Annual change Terraced house 54.6% Semi-detached house 62.6% Detached house 46.3% Semi-detached bungalow 47.6% Detached bungalow 47.0% Apartment 34.5% Source: University of Ulster Quarterly House Price Index </a> <hr> Average house prices by region Location Average price Q2 <i>Northern Ireland - All</i> <i>£240,408</i> <i>Belfast - All</i> <i>£239,754 </i> North Belfast £198,559 South Belfast £302,436 East Belfast £259,211 West Belfast £200,888 North Down £257,497 Lisburn £278,307 East Antrim £206,117 Londonderry/Strabane £189,515 Antrim/Ballymena £228,391 Coleraine/Limavady/N Coast £277,169 Mid Ulster £242,384 Enniskillen/Fermanagh/S Tyrone £244,068 Mid Ulster £128,861 Mid & South Down £242,218 Craigavon/Armagh £231,514 Source: University of Ulster Quarterly House Price Index <a class="bodl" href="#story">Click here to return</a> |