Jordan Buchanan Chief Economist at Property Pal
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PropertyPal Housing Market Trends: Q3 2021

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7th October 2021

PropertyPal Housing Market Trends: Q3 2021

PropertyPal has today announced the results of the performance of the Northern Ireland residential housing market during Q3 2021.

The full Housing Market Trends Q3 2021 report can be accessed via: https://bit.ly/3uQ1Asf

The report shows there were almost 7,500 properties ‘sale agreed’ over the previous 3 months, 8% more than the same period in 2019 but 25% lower than 2020 as market activity has moderated since peak activity. Furthermore, sales of larger properties continue to outstrip smaller properties with 4 and 5+ bed house sales rising by 11% to Q3 2019 compared to 2 and 3 bed properties which increased by 7%.

Belfast remains the most popular place to purchase, recording 1,550 sales followed by Ards & North Down (920) and Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon (770).

Jordan Buchanan, Chief Economist at PropertyPal commented on the performance of the housing market:

“Sales volumes continue to operate at higher levels with transactions up 8% compared to the same quarter in 2019. However, activity has cooled in recent months with sales activity down 25% compared to peak levels in late 2020. Price growth has also moderated over the last few months but still remains high, particularly for larger properties and across high demand areas in N.Ireland. The mortgage market is improving each month with greater availability of deals at lower rates of interest. Heightened concerns of rising inflation may lead to interest rate rises sooner than markets expect, which in turn will suppress demand across the housing market. “

The reports continues that house prices have grown by 7.3% over the last 12 months and by 1.0% over the previous 3 months. The average advertised property is now valued at £181,700. Price growth for houses (7.5%) continues to outstrip apartments (5.2%) over the last 12 months.

All council areas experienced rising prices over the previous 12 months. House prices increased at the fastest rate in Causeway Coast & The Glens (14.1%), Mid & East Antrim (12.4%) and Ards & North Down (10.8%).

There were approximately 6,700 properties added to the market during Q3 2021, 8% smaller than the same period in 2019. Supply shortages have been an ongoing market feature since the pandemic. Total inventory of properties for sale is now 44% below comparable levels in 2019.

In the rental market, demand has remained exceptionally strong against a backdrop of significantly constrained supply. Rents increased by 1.3% over the previous 3 months and by 5.6% over the last year. The average rent in Northern Ireland is £691 per month, of which houses are £684 p/m and apartments £705 p/m.

Ten out of the eleven council areas experienced rising rents in the last 12 months with the strongest appreciation in Ards and North Down (11.4%). There were approximately 3,150 new rental properties listed in Q3 2021, 30% fewer than the same period in 2019. The total inventory of rental properties is down 51% compared to 31 2019.

Jordan further commented on the performance of the rental market:

“The rental market is experiencing an increasingly challenging period from a tenant’s perspective with many unable to and secure suitable properties. There are fewer than half of rental properties available compared to 2019 and each property is achieving an average of 78 enquiries sent via PropertyPal- almost 4x the three-year average. The market imbalance, coupled alongside the ending of economic support measures suggests a difficult period ahead for the sector. Whilst tentative, early signs indicate activity may be moderating as the rate of rental growth fell marginally over the last quarter. “

ENDS

Notes to editors

Annual comparisons for sales volumes and supply levels are relative to the period in 2019 due to the effect of the housing market closure between march-june 2020.

About Jordan Buchanan, Chief Economist at PropertyPal

Jordan Buchanan is the Chief Economist at PropertyPal, acting as the spokesperson for the company and a trusted subject matter expert on all UK and Northern Ireland economic and housing matters. He currently sits on the Board of Co-Ownership, Northern Ireland’s shared ownership provider. Jordan lectured in Economics in the Ulster Business School and is a regular commentator across a range of media outlets.

About PropertyPal

PropertyPal.com is the leading local property portal, listing homes from property professionals across Northern Ireland and Ireland. PropertyPal has the largest audience of home movers in Northern Ireland, with over 150,000 visitors to the website per day.

Methodology

The price and rental statistics are based on arithmetic averages of newly listed properties based on advertised asking price/rents in each calendar month. The price and rental indices produced are weighted to reflect the market share of each property type. The data has been cleansed to remove outliers and anomalies.