20th November 2001

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The average price of an apartment in Northern Ireland has slumped by more than £10,000 in the past year, according to survey results published today by the University of Ulster.

This sector of the market is described as “volatile” in the Quarterly House Price Index prepared by the Centre for Research on Property and Planning at the University of Ulster in conjunction with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), and sponosred by the Ulster Bank

The survey shows that the average apartment now costs £83,089, a fall of 11.02% over the year.

Elsewhere residential property prices have consolidated with the average home now increasing in value by 6.01% year on year, compared to a rise of 11.47% in the year to the end of the preceding quarter.

The report says that the virtual halving of the annual rate of increase underlines the consolidation taking place within the market after big price rises in the spring of this year.

The average price of a home in Northern Ireland now stands at £86,846, with a wide regional variation ranging from £100,755 in Lisburn to £69,536 in Londonderry/Strabane.

Aside from apartments, every other sector of the residential market showed an increase in value, although there were widely varying performances.

The highest rising sectors were semi-detached bungalows up 16.05% and semi-detached houses up by 9.28% over the year. Detached bungalows rose by 8.63% in the same period but detached homes increased by only 3.2%.

The average price by sector for the third quarter of 2001 is:

Detached houses - £126,615.
Detached bungalows - £110,036.
Apartments - £83,089.
Semi-detached houses - £81,072.
Semi detached bungalows - £76,887.
Terraced houses - £62,942.


The authors of the report Professor Alastair Adair and Professor Stanley McGreal highlight the lower rate of price increase as being highly significant. However whether this signifies that the market is beyond the peak of the cycle or has merely reached a plateau from which further growth in the medium-term may occur is unclear and will be influenced by events in the macro-economy and local economic conditions notably employment trends over the coming months.

Spokesman for the RICS, Tom McClelland says: "The year upon year price increases have reduced, which some commentators have been indicating for some time was likely to happen having had nearly 10 years of continuous growth. There are indications of price stability which is good news for buyers saving for their deposits. Interest rates are at their lowest since the 1950s, which makes monthly repayments so much easier. In the shorter term there will probably be a more stable outlook, quality will always sell, but some sellers may have to adjust their expectations of the market place".

For further information, please contact:

Press Office Department of Communication and Development
Telephone: 028 9036 6178
Email: pressoffice@ulster.ac.uk