NI house sales boomed at end of 2013 says survey

There were almost 5,000 residential property sales in the last three months of 2013

Northern Ireland ended 2013 with a boom in house sales not seen for six years.

Official data reveals there were almost 5,000 residential property sales in the last three months of last year.

Prices rose by an average four per cent in 2013, but growth slowed down towards the end of the year.

The average price, covering all types of properties, is £99,000 - still half what it was at the height of the market in 2007.

The figures were contained in the Northern Ireland housing bulletin, published by the Department of Social Development.

Meanwhile, figures released by the Central Statistics Office on Wednesday showed that house prices in the Republic of Ireland declined by 0.7% month-on-month in March although they were still 7.8% higher than a year earlier.

Prices in Dublin were unchanged in March from the previous month, but were up 14.3% on the year.

Residential property prices in the Republic of Ireland have halved since 2008 following a crash that devastated the economy, but have started to recover in the last year, particularly in Dublin, which is an attractive location for multinational companies.