Taylor Scott International News
Northern Ireland is forecast to see the highest house price growth in the UK this year, with the latest report predicting an 11% rise in house values. The region is likely to see ongoing increases in prices according to the latest residential market survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Ulster Bank. This is based on a comparative analysis between our price indicator and data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) while for the UK as a whole the survey predicts that house prices will rise by 6%. The survey reports a net balance of 72% of Northern Ireland surveyors saying that prices increased in August, a higher net balance than all other UK region’s apart from East Anglia. Northern Ireland surveyors remain positive about the outlook too, with three month price expectations also amongst the highest in the UK. When it comes to sales, Northern Ireland surveyors are confident that increases seen in August will continue, with a net balance of 40% of respondents expecting sales levels to be higher in three months’ time. ‘A shortage of new instructions has characterised the Northern Ireland property market this year, with buyer enquiries outstripping the rate at which properties have been coming to the market,’ said RICS Northern Ireland residential property spokesman, Samuel Dickey. ‘As we move into the autumn, we should see more instructions, helping address this imbalance and ease upward pressure on prices. On the whole, RICS forecasts that average prices in Northern Ireland will have risen by 11% between the fourth quarter of 2014 and the fourth quarter of 2015,’ he explained. ‘This represents robust growth, but we should remember that this is from a low base, with average prices still someway from their 2007 peak,’ he added. The data also shows that in terms of prices, a net balance of 72% of Northern Ireland surveyors said that prices rose in the past three months. A net balance of 46% said that they expect prices to continue rising in the three months ahead. Taylor Scott International
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