Northern Ireland house sales set for summer rise

Property sales in Northern Ireland are set for a summer rise, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

The latest RICS and Ulster Bank Housing Market Survey for Northern Ireland shows that 31 per cent of respondents said that they expect transaction volumes to increase in the June, July, August period, although all respondents indicated that they predict prices to remain the same in the three months.

Indeed, the price balance for the survey was -9, suggesting that prices edged lower over March, April, May (57 per cent of respondents saying that prices remained the same over saying they rose, and 26 per cent saying they fell).

The net balance for transaction volumes was 46 per cent (54per cent of respondents saying that the amount of transactions remained the same in the three months and 46per cent saying that there was an increase).

“The trend has been one of easing price falls and modestly rising transaction volumes, and we expect this to continue over the year as a whole,” comments RICS Northern Ireland housing spokesman, Tom McClelland. “The stabilisation in prices has being encouraging greater activity, albeit we are still some way off what would be considered healthy transaction volumes.”

Derek Wilson, Head of Lending Products at Ulster Bank, adds: “Ulster Bank has provided over £1.5billion of mortgage lending into the Northern Ireland housing market since the property price peak. As the market continues to stabilise and activity rises, we remain strongly committed to supporting homebuyers, movers and remortgagers and we are introducing more choice for customers in our mortgage offerings to help consumers get the best deal for their individual circumstances.”

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