PropertyPal Housing Market Trends: Q4 2021

PropertyPal has today released the results of the performance of the Northern Ireland residential housing market during Q4 2021. The full report can be accessed via: https://bit.ly/3Go3Mwk

Northern Ireland saw an additional 4,770 new properties available to purchase in Q4 of 2021. This was a 20% drop of new inventory and a steeper 44% drop of total inventory compared to Q4 in 2020.

The average price of all properties in Northern Ireland is now £180,700 – a 5.5% annual price growth but only a 0.1% growth from last quarter. The average house price is now £185,200, with the average price of an apartment coming in at £136,900. The annual price growth of both houses and apartments has increased, at 5.5% and 6% respectively.

On the rental side, the average price of rentals is now £698 per month. This is an annual rent growth of 5.4% and a quarterly rent growth of 1.4%. The average cost of renting a house is now £693 per month, while the average cost of renting an apartment is £708. The annual rent growth of both houses and apartments has also increased, to 6.5% and 3.5% respectively.

Most new advertised for-sale properties appeared in the Belfast area (21%) followed by Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, and also Ards & North Down (both 12%).

5+ bedroom houses saw the largest annual price growth at 9% with those properties now costing on average £376,400. Quarterly house prices however for 5+ bedroom properties was the only property size to decrease at -0.1%.

House prices in Northern Ireland grew over the year in every council area – most so within Causeway Coast & Glens – the annual house price growth there was 12.8% with the average property now costing £185,200. The smallest annual increase was in Belfast at 0.8% were the average property costs £192,000.

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

“The housing market enters 2022 with considerable momentum. The level of transaction activity has somewhat cooled in recent months with sales approximately 16% lower than Q4 2020 levels but 8% greater than pre-pandemic levels. More generally the market is expected to stabilise throughout 2022 with weaker price growth resulting. Indeed, overall price growth has already moderated with annual rates now sitting at 5.5% and closer aligned to wage growth across the wider economy. An ongoing shortage of available properties alongside the latest covid-19 omicron wave may weaken seller confidence, both of which will limit activity in the short term.”

Jordan further commented on the performance of the rental market:

“The rental market ended 2021 with continued strength as seen across the previous 18 months and demand remains at exceptionally high levels. On average there were 48 enquiries for every new rental listing in N.Ireland across Q4 2021, equivalent to 3x the pre-pandemic average. Rents are growing at an annual rate of 5.4%, however, with considerable sub regional variation with some locations seeing double-digit rent growth. The shortage of properties remains the biggest challenge for the sector. In total, there were approximately 17,500 rental listings during 2021, almost 5,000 fewer rental properties compared to pre-pandemic levels.”