First time buyers priced out of Northern Ireland

04-Jun-2007

First time buyers in Northern Ireland have had to contend with annual price inflation of 46 per cent, and an 11 per cent increase in prices since the beginning of the year alone, it has been revealed.

The University of Ulster Quarterly House Price Index has revealed that the average house price in Northern Ireland has now passed £200,000 for the first time, with recent rate rises having no effect as yet.

First time buyers' difficulties are exemplified by the statistic that houses worth £100,000 or below accounted for just two per cent of all sales in 2007 thus far.

Nonetheless, the study authors suggested that an end to fast-rising prices may be in sight.

“Since Easter, close observation of the housing market would suggest that at long last, the local price boom may be starting to come off the boil with a return to a more normal market," suggested the Bank of Ireland's head of research in Northern Ireland, Alan Bridle.

Evidence to date is largely anecdotal, but it will be a major surprise if we are not reporting a slower rate of inflation in our next survey in the late summer," Mr Bridle added.

Prices in Northern Ireland rose more than anywhere else in Europe last year, a separate study from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) reported in February.

To find out about the different ways of financing a first home, see our section ‘Affording Your First Home’.

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