Northern Ireland house prices increase during summer months despite a lack of supply

The RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) and Ulster Bank Residential Market Survey said Northern Ireland was one of only two UK regions where a rise in house sales had been reported.

RICS Residential Property Spokesman, Samuel Dickey said: “The market moves into the autumn with some momentum and good demand. Northern Ireland and Wales were the only areas reported to have seen a rise in sales during September and while the growth is modest, expectations remain firmly in positive territory for the last quarter of the year. The key challenge though remains supply, with surveyors continuing to indicate that availability of stock remains a problem.”

The main findings of the survey were:

• The headline price balance for Northern Ireland was +44% in the latest survey, meaning that 44% more surveyors said prices rose in the past three months than those who said they fell.
• The price expectations balance at 30% for the next three months remains positive while sales expectations data (with a net balance of 33%) for this period remains the highest in the UK.
• A net balance of 11% of surveyors said that newly agreed sales grew.
• There was an increase in new buyer enquiries according to a net balance of 12% of respondents.
• New instructions to sell fell, according to a net balance of respondents (-13%).
• A net balance of +63% expect prices to rise in the next 12 months while 25% expect sales to increase in the next year.

Read the full Belfast Telegraph here

Read the full RICS report here