House prices in NI keep rising despite pandemic

House prices in Northern Ireland have continued to rise throughout the coronavirus pandemic, the latest official figures suggest.

In the third quarter of this year - from July to September - prices were up 2.4% on the same period in 2019.

That followed a 3% annual rise in the second quarter.

All property types saw annual price increases in the third quarter and the average residential property price now stands at £143,205.

Detached house prices were up 2.6%, semi-detached up 2.9%, terraces rose 1.9% and apartments up 1.3%.

The number of houses sold also showed a significant recovery in the third quarter.

Fewer than 2,000 houses were sold in the second quarter, a period covered by the most intense phase of lockdown.

In the third quarter that jumped to 4,630 and will rise further when late sales are registered.

The government statistics agency Nisra said that in spite of the disruption to the market it is satisfied that the data is robust.

It said that although there was a big reduction in sales in the second 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".