Northern Ireland housing market hot in 2021 but cooling

The average standardised house price was £159,151 at the end of 2021

House prices in Northern Ireland increased by almost 8% in 2021, official figures suggest.

However the data from the NI Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) suggest the market cooled in the final quarter of the year.

Prices increased by just 0.1% compared to the third quarter, the lowest quarterly growth since early 2020.

The average standardised house price was £159,151 at the end of 2021.

The figures are from the NI Residential Property Price Index, which analyses almost all sales, including cash deals.

A total of almost 30,000 homes were sold in 2021, the highest since 2006 when there were 41,000 sales.

There were year-on-year price increases in all council districts ranging from 11.2% in Derry City & Strabane to 4.9% in Belfast.

The council district with the highest average price was £184,847 in Lisburn and Castlereagh; the lowest was £138,944 in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon.

The average house price is now back to roughly what it was in the middle of 2006, but is still well below the peak price of £225,000 at the height of the bubble in 2007.