Sales activity continued to increase last month and price falls continued to ease, according to the latest RICS and Ulster Bank Northern Ireland Housing Market Survey. A net balance of minus 13% of surveyors said that prices fell in the three months to the end of February (28% saying prices were lower, 56% saying they remained the same, and 16% saying...

House purchase lending recorded its highest January total since 2008, according to new data released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. Despite a seasonal monthly fall, lending increased by 11% compared to January last year. First-time buyer and home mover activity rose compared to January last year, while re-mortgage lending was still 23% lower than at the start of 2012. A total...

BRG Gibsons Auctions will be offering investors and private buyers the chance to pick up some prime properties right across the province. Prices start at just £3,000 for a plot of land with every property type set to come under the hammer. Director Nicholas Gibson said demand for selling property at auction from both financial institutions and private individuals is continuing to...

First Trust Bank has a mortgage fund of £250m, it was announced recently. This fund sees the launch of a competitive range of new mortgage products targeting first time buyers, switchers and home improvers.  As part of the bank’s strategy to make mortgages more accessible to customers, there will be a team of mortgage consultants  throughout its network, available to manage...

A QUARTER of SME building firms have missed out on contracts because they can’t secure vital funding, with many claiming banks and building societies are “actively discriminating” against construction companies, the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has warned. The latest figures show the Government’s Funding for Lending scheme is failing to support construction, as lending fell significantly in the last three...

Singer Alicia Keys and her husband Swizz Beatz are selling their New York apartment, despite having only lived there for just over two years. The plush pad, which they bought off Lenny Kravitz for £8.4m in 2010, put the home onto the market last March for £11.9m. Now that they have found a buyer, the couple can moved to a suburban...

FORTY-EIGHT properties worth £3.2m were snapped up in under two hours in a bidding frenzy. More than 500 potential buyers - both house-hunters and investors - packed into Belfast's Europa Hotel for an auction that saw one piece of real estate go every two minutes. Among residential and commercial bargains secured by bidders were three-bedroom houses for just over £40,000 and onebedroom...

The CIH Northern Ireland 4th Annual Housing Awards took place on Thursday 28 February, showcasing housing’s ‘best of the best’ over the last year.  The evening was hosted by BBC’s Tara Mills and Inside Housing’s Editor Stuart MacDonald at Belfast’s City Hall. The Housing Awards is now in its fourth year in Northern Ireland and has been revitalised this year to...

WJ Law took the ‘Working Together’ award at the Northern Ireland Housing Awards which took place at Belfast City Hall on 28 February 2013 to celebrate what has been best about housing in Northern Ireland in 2012. A family-owned business with over 100 years’ experience of designing homes and building communities, WJ Law has developed a new model for elderly care...

Lending to first-time buyers increased in the final quarter of the year in Northern Ireland, contributing to the largest number of loans to first-time buyers in a single year since 2007, according to the latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders in Northern Ireland. A total of 5,100 first-time buyers entered the market in 2012, up from 4,700 in 2011...