IT WAS revealed this week that in the last quarter of 2020, residential properties in the Fermanagh and Omagh area increased in price by 4.9 per cent on the previous quarter ­– the second-highest percentage increase in property prices recorded across Northern Ireland (NI) in the period.

 

Land and Property Services (LPS), assisted by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), released the House Price Index (HPI) report for Quarter 4, 2020 on Wednesday, February 17.

 

The HPI measures changes in the price of residential properties sold in NI, and uses Stamp Duty information on residential property sales recorded by HMRC.

 

The NI HPI series is used as the NI component of the single official UK HPI, with the statistics being comparable with other UK regions.

 

The lockdown measures to stop the spread of Covid-19 essentially paused the housing market between March 23 and June 15 last, with the number of transactions recorded between April–June 2020 being approximately one-third of the initial number of sales recorded during April–June 2019.

 

Although there was a large reduction in the number of sales during the quarter, the sales received were still representative of the property market, as they were not skewed towards one property type, location or socio-demographic characteristic.

 

The results for the most recent quarter (October-December, 2020) ­– which are provisional – show that:

 

– Between Q3 (July-September) 2020 and Q4 (October-December) 2020, the HPI increased by 3 per cent;

 

– Between Q4, 2019 and Q4, 2020, the HPI increased by 5.3 per cent;

 

– The average price for a house in Northern Ireland is £147,593, and ranges from £129,151 in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon to £174,148 in Lisburn and Castlereagh;

 

– Some 7,401 residential properties were sold during Q4, 2020. (This number will be revised upwards in the next publication due to late returns and the entry of new properties into the NI Valuation List.)

 

Some of the HPI's key statistics on each council area are shown below, including data from Q4, 2020:

 

Fermanagh and Omagh

Quarterly Change: 4.9 per cent

Annual Change: 3.3 per cent

Standardised Price: £134,513

 

Antrim and Newtownabbey

Quarterly Change: 1.9 per cent

Annual Change: 3.6 per cent

Standardised Price: £150,673

 

Ards and North Down

Quarterly Change: 1.4 per cent

Annual Change: 6.1 per cent

Standardised Price: £165,939

 

Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon

Quarterly Change: 1.7 per cent

Annual Change: 4.1 per cent

Standardised Price: £129,151

 

Belfast

Quarterly Change: 3.1 per cent

Annual Change: 6.5 per cent

Standardised Price: £140,750

 

Causeway Coast and Glens

Quarterly Change: 5.4 per cent

Annual Change: 8.5 per cent

Standardised Price: £161,747

 

Derry City and Strabane

Quarterly Change: 3.3 per cent

Annual Change: 2.3 per cent

Standardised Price: £130,014

 

Lisburn and Castlereagh

Quarterly Change: 1.8 per cent

Annual Change: 5.6 per cent

Standardised Price: £174,148

 

Mid and East Antrim

Quarterly Change: 3.2 per cent

Annual Change: 3.5 per cent

Standardised Price: £134,788

 

Mid Ulster

Quarterly Change: 4.4 per cent

Annual Change: 2.8 per cent

Standardised Price: £140,699

 

Newry, Mourne and Down

Quarterly Change: 4.7 per cent

Annual Change: 8.9 per cent

Standardised Price: £159,305

 

For further information, and to see a graphical representation of the residential property price index for each council, see the Detailed Statistics section at https://tinyurl.com/qhr8vefl.