House Prices Still Increasing In Northern Ireland Despite Global Headwinds

House prices still increasing in Northern Ireland despite global headwinds

Rics’ regional monthly survey for April points to ‘resilient housing market’

New buyer demand softened slightly in the north’s housing market in April, but surveyors remain optimistic about the outlook for sales and prices, an industry survey shows.

But the data paints a picture of a housing market still in the grip of macro headwinds stemming from the Middle East conflict, with recent warnings from the Bank of England that interest rate rises may be required to tackle renewed inflation underlining the challenging environment facing buyers.

The latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) residential market survey shows that prices are still increasing in Northern Ireland (as they are in Scotland), and property professionals reported new buyer inquiries falling rather than rising.

In the March survey, local surveyors were almost unanimous that house prices had risen, whereas in this most recent survey for April, the balance has come down slightly though still strongly positive.

However, expectations among surveyors for sales in the near-term months ahead were subdued, though were less negative for 12 months’ time, the research indicated.

Samuel Dickey, Rics’ residential spokesman in Northern Ireland, said: “Despite clear headwinds, the housing market locally remained resilient in April.

“It’s encouraging to see that respondents on balance are optimistic that both sales and prices will continue to rise over the coming months.

“And although surveyors are reporting a softening in demand through April, this is off the back of a steady first quarter of the year and is perhaps as expected given the uncertainty in the wider economy.”

Source: Gary McDonald - Irish News