General Market Trends
The main finding of this survey is the improving nature of the housing market in Northern Ireland. This is evident in the greatly reduced rate of annual house price decline and the stable picture over the final quarter. The annual weighted rate of decline (6.8%) is down by more than 12 percentage points and quarterly price trends are indicative of a relatively unchanged market with a slight negative weighted change of 0.9% over the quarter.
The overall average price of residential property in Northern Ireland for the fourth quarter of 2009 is £161,429, a figure which is midway between that for the third quarter (£164,017) and the second quarter average price (£158,886). This type of variability is to be expected as the market recovers in a slightly uncertain manner. The weighted annual index, which takes into consideration the price change and volume for each of the six property types in the survey compared to the same quarter in 2008, indicates a further significant fall in the rate of price decrease.
