Northern Ireland House Prices Drop With Rise In Unemployment

House prices in Northern Ireland declined in the October-December period after increases in the three previous quarters of 2024, an index shows.

According to research, the average house price currently stands at £214,478; that's a 3.4 per cent decrease from the third quarter of last year but is still 2.9 per cent higher than quarter four in 2023.

The report suggests consumers are tempering their spending, with issues such as the upcoming rise in employers' national insurance contributions and the unemployment rate hitting a six-month high continuing to cause some uncertainty for households.

However, it still points to a generally robust and resilient market, which could be stymied in the coming year by a lack of new housing stock for sale.

Broken down by property type, the report showed decreasing price movements throughout the final quarter, highlighting terrace/townhouse average price of £147,281, showing a price decline of 2.4 per cent, the same decline experienced for semi-detached sectors of the market with average prices dropping to £195,585.

The detached market showed a decrease of 1.9 per cent, bringing the average prices to £319,402, and apartment prices went down slightly less, at 1.7 per cent, valuing properties at £159,991.

In comparison, annually, the detached and terrace/townhouse sectors displayed price increases of 5.5 per cent and 5.6 per cent, respectively. In contrast, the apartment sector displayed a smaller price increase of 2.9 per cent. The semi-detached sector revealed 0 per cent price growth relative to last year.