Average monthly rents in Northern Ireland are going up at more than three times the rate of house prices, a report has said.
Property platform PropertyPal said the average monthly rent in the second quarter of the year was £871, up 10% on the same period in 2023.
In comparison, house price growth, excluding new-build homes, is much slower at 3% to an average of £206,600.
It said Ards & North Down is the most expensive place in which to buy a house, at £248,700.
Mid Ulster offered the cheapest houses, at £168,000, which was up 2.7% a year.
The average new home property price is £240,300, with a 2.7% annual increase and a 1.9% quarterly increase. The quarterly rate of increase in the price of resold homes was 2.4%.
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Jordan Buchanan, chief executive of PropertyPal, said: “The Northern Ireland housing market demonstrated stability in the second quarter of the year.
“Overall prices have stabilised at an annual growth rate of 3%, with supply of new listings increasing by 1%.”
And while sales in the second quarter of the year had fallen by 4%, “the typical time to find a buyer is approximately one week faster than the long-term average, indicating strong underlying buyer demand”.
He said economic uncertainty and political uncertainty in the run-up to the General Election on July 4 had held up activity.
But he said a cut in interest rates from their present level of 5.25% was becoming more likely after inflation remained at its target level of 2%.
“High mortgage rates and the uncertainty surrounding the UK general election somewhat restrained market activity.
“However, with UK inflation now back to the Bank of England’s target, it appears more a question of when, rather than if, interest rates will fall. Market traders are currently divided on the likelihood of the first rate cut occurring next month.”
PropertyPal said the Mid & East Antrim area had experienced the largest annual increase in rent at 16.1%, with the average now £742p/m.
Rents were lowest in Fermanagh and South Tyrone, at a cost of £621 per month.
But they were highest in Belfast, now costing £1,006 a month on average, up 10.8% over the year and 2.8% over the quarter.
The average days on market for a house to reach ‘sale agreed’ is 42 days, according to PropertyPal, compared to 43 days a year ago.
There were 6,343 properties agreed for sale in Q2 2024, with sales volumes down 4% on the same period in 2023, it added.