The average Northern Ireland house price has gone up by 6.4% over the last year to hit just over £185,000, a government report has said.
It’s the highest annual rate of growth since the end of 2022, when prices had jumped 10.1% year on year as the housing market enjoyed a pandemic-era bounce.
The house price index for April to June from Land & Property Services said prices ranged from £163,836 in the cheapest area – Derry City and Strabane – to £215,464 in the most expensive location of Lisburn and Castlereagh.
Between the first and second quarters of 2024, there was an 3.6% increase in the average price to £185,025. Year on year, the average price was up 6.4% from £173,917.
The index said there were 5,064 homes sold during the second quarter of the year, up 7% from 4,738 in the first quarter.
Across Northern Ireland’s local government districts, the highest percentage annual change in the house price index was Newry, Mourne and Down, with an 8.9% increase giving a standardised price of £202,524. Its quarterly rate of change was 8%.
But Causeway Coast & Glens experienced the biggest quarterly increase at 11.2%, giving a standardised price of £207,798.
In Derry City and Strabane, the quarterly rate of increase was 4.4%, while the annual rate of change was 3.1%.
In Lisburn and Castlereagh, the quarterly change was 2.3%, while the annual change was 6%.
Last year’s total number of house sales of 21,585 was a decline of 15% on the year before, with consecutive increases in the base interest rate to hit 5.25% taking their toll.
However, the Bank of England has now reduced the base rate to 5%, a move expected to trigger more activity in the housing market in Northern Ireland as mortgages become more affordable.
The base rate has been reduced to response to falling inflation. But data on Wednesday showed that inflation as risen for the first time this year.
However, signs of easing price pressures in key areas like the services sector have given economists hope of further interest rate cuts.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the UK’s overall measure of inflation, the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), rose to 2.2% in July, up from 2% in June.
The latest figures mean that prices are rising faster across the country than in previous months, but still at a slower rate than in 2022 and 2023 when households and businesses were being squeezed during the peak of the cost crisis.
In the Republic, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) recorded an 8.6% surge in the average property price in the year to June. The median price of a home bought in that time in the Republic is €337,500 (£289,600).