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Report Summary
In Northern Ireland, the average property price is £197,900 and the average rental property is £755 per month (Q4 2022).
Belfast remains the top-selling council area across the country with Botanic, Titanic, Castle and Ormiston in the top 4 selling locations – accumulating 533 sales in Q4.
Commenting on the housing market, Jordan Buchanan, Chief Operating Officer at PropertyPal stated:
“Northern Ireland’s housing market experienced a slowdown in activity in the final quarter of the year with newly agreed sales falling by 32% compared to pre-covid19 levels. This quarter reflected a period of heightened economic uncertainty with volatility in financial markets impacting mortgage rates with many potential buyers opting to delay decisions until the new year. Whilst financial conditions have settled somewhat and lenders have lowered mortgage rates in recent weeks, they still remain higher than recent periods with many households having to reevaluate their budgets.
A modest correction in house prices later in the year is likely, albeit not guaranteed. The scale of any correction is highly reliant on the number of forced sales arising from a surge in mortgage defaults. So far, this does not appear to have materialised and lenders have expressed they will work with homeowners through a range of forbearance measures, should they be required. Unemployment is forecast to remain at low levels and the mortgage market has a much higher concentration of fixed rate products which will shield households in the short term, providing upward support. There are also some signs of the housing market recovery with both search levels on PropertyPal and enquiries to estate agents higher than 2019 levels, suggesting an underlying positive sentiment is still prevalent in the local market. Indeed, the opening 2 weeks of this year has seen 6% more enquiries sent to estate agents compared to the same period across 2019-2021.“
Last modified: 07/02/2023
