The number of new build homes sold in the north fell to a near record low in the three months to June 2024, new figures suggest.
Just 200 sales were registered by the National House Building Council (NHBC) in Northern Ireland during the April to June quarter.
Outside of April to June 2020, when the first Covid-19 lockdown was declared, it’s the lowest quarterly figure to feature in the Northern Ireland housing bulletin since the Department for Communities began recording new home sales in 2005/06.
The number of new dwellings completed in the north during 2023 was the lowest recorded since the 1950s.
The average price of new build homes has soared in recent years on the back of the demand for housing and inflation in the construction sector.
The NHBC said the average new build in the north sold for £255,800 in the three months to June 2024.
That was around £75,000 more than the average paid for a new build home in the same quarter during 2019.
Separate figure published by Land and Property Services shows house building has started to recover in 2024.
There were 1,798 new dwellings started the April to June period, marking an increase from the 1,577 during the first three months of the year.
But, output remains down on traditional levels.
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The 3,375 new home starts in the first half of 2024 was 1,174 lower than the same six months in 2018.
Figures published by HMRC on Friday showed a total of 1,980 residential property transactions were completed in Northern Ireland during July.
It marked the third successive month of falling home sales in the north.
Sales were moderately up on the same month last year, when 1,820 homes changed hands.
A total of 13,090 residential property transactions were completed in Northern Ireland during the first seven months of 2024, according to HMRC’s figures.
That was up on the 12,840 sold in the same period last year, but activity in the north’s housing market remained well below pre-pandemic levels.
Some 14,970 homes were sold in the same seven-month period during 2019.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England said 62,000 mortgages were approved in the UK during July, the highest total since 65,100 were recorded in September 2022.
Mortgage rates surged after former UK chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s September 2022 statement delivered as part of a “growth plan”.
In recent weeks, mortgage rates have been edging down and earlier this month, the Bank of England base rate was cut by 0.25 percentage points to 5%.
The Bank’s Money and Credit report said house purchase approvals increased from 60,600 in June.
By contrast, approvals for remortgaging (which only capture loans with a different lender) fell to 25,100 in July from 27,300 the previous month.
The figures were released as Nationwide Building Society said UK house prices fell by 0.2% month-on-month in August, after taking account of seasonal effects, but the annual rate of house price growth continued to edge higher. Average prices were up 2.4% year-on-year – the fastest rate since December 2022.
Nationwide’s latest index did not feature regional house price data.
