New report reveals the average price of a property in Northern Ireland is £197,800 as the local housing market returns to ‘normal’ pre-Covid levels

A new report has announced that the Northern Ireland housing market returned to ‘normal’, pre-Covid-19 sales levels in March 2023.PropertyPal, Northern Ireland's leading property portal, released its Q1 2023 Housing Market Update, revealing a return to pre-Covid-19 levels of activity in the region's housing market for the first time since March 2020.The report highlights a solid start to the year with a stable market outperforming expectations despite the ongoing economic challenges.Jordan Buchanan, COO and chief economist at PropertyPal, said: “January and February 2023 saw cautious market activity, likely due to residual effects from the economic turbulence of late 2022. However, economic stabilisation and an improved outlook has led to a significant increase in home sales in March, surpassing pre-Covid-19 averages by 4% and resulting in properties transacting one week faster than usual.“Accurately valued properties continue to attract the most interest, with average listed prices growing by 1.6% over the past three months and an 8.1% increase over the past 12 months. As broader inflationary pressures are expected to ease, house price inflation is likely to decelerate. The potential 0.25% base rate increase by the Bank of England on 11 May 2023 is already factored in by lenders, and a more stable lending environment has led to increased competition for business.”Simon Brien, managing director at Simon Brien Residential, explained: “It is reassuring to see the market sentiment starting to turn. Across our four branches, we have seen an increase in both viewings and enquiries over the past few months. The property market is driven by confidence and with more mortgage lenders reducing lending rates across their home loan ranges, to date, we have experienced a buoyant Spring market with strong demand in both the private resale and new homes market."Northern Ireland is in a different market compared to many parts of the UK and remains one of the most affordable regions. Despite the overly negative media reporting and speculation on onward downturn in the Autumn, Northern Ireland housing demands are still outstripping supply with many properties still bidding over the asking price and a high demand for new homes, even ahead of new phase releases."

Key highlights of the report also include:

The average cost of a property in Northern Ireland, excluding new builds, is £197,800

The annual price growth of all properties in Northern Ireland, excluding new homes, is 8.1% and the annual rent growth is 9.1%

The highest average property price in Northern Ireland is in Lisburn and Castlereagh at £232,000, closely followed by Ards and North Down at £231,300. The lowest is in Londonderry and Strabane at £157,600.

Total sales in Q1 2023 saw a decline of -5% compared to 2016-2019, however, strong sales activity during March 2023 saw an increase of +4%

The average monthly rent of any home in Northern Ireland is £773.

The average number of days a property was listed on the market in Northern Ireland before reaching sale agreed in Q1 2023 was 61 days, compared to 43 days in Q1 2022 and 63 days pre-Covid-19.Jordan continued: “A robust labour market performance has contributed to the housing market's resilience. With improving economic conditions, the housing market is projected to maintain its momentum in the coming months.“The rental market, however, continues to face challenges due to exceptional demand and restricted supply. Current enquiry rates are approximately 55-60 per rental property, a significant increase compared to pre-pandemic rates of 15-20 enquiries per property. The imbalance resulted in rental price inflation rates of 2.4% over the past three months and 9.1% over the previous 12 months.“The ongoing structural imbalance suggests a significant slowdown is unlikely soon. Tenants may face allocating a larger portion of their income towards rent, and a substantial supply uplift across all housing tenures is crucial to alleviate rental market pressures.”