Monthly Market Snapshot: 

Introducing the May 2023 edition of our Monthly Market Snapshot, where we examine the latest trends and developments in the Northern Ireland housing market. This report offers a thorough analysis of market performance, providing essential insights for buyers, sellers, and industry professionals.&nbsp;

Decreased

Sales Enquiries

-21%

Increased

Rental Enquiries

House Sales

Key highlights from the report include:

<blockquote>Commenting on the housing market, Jordan Buchanan, Chief Operating Officer at PropertyPal stated:The Northern Ireland housing market exhibited another cautiously optimistic performance in May, as around 2,400 properties were marked as ‘sale agreed’, which is an 8% decrease compared to pre-covid levels. Listed prices have continued to follow similar trends to the broader inflationary environment, experiencing increases of 7.7% and 8.6% respectively over the past 12 months. Encouragingly, properties are still being transacted at a faster pace than usual, with an average of 43 days to reach the ‘sale agreed’ stage, in contrast to 49 days during the period of 2017-2019. Nevertheless, the resilience in the labour market, characterised by strong wage settlements, presents a quandary for the Bank of England as they focus their efforts on taming inflation. Consequently, financial markets are now anticipating several additional base rate hikes, expected to peak later this year at around 5.5%-6.0%. Lenders have swiftly withdrawn deals and repriced products, which will inevitably weaken confidence among both mortgaged homeowners and first-time buyers entering the market, as they contend with payment shocks and heightened affordability concerns. This remains the most concerning factor weighing on the market outlook. However, if the underlying inflationary issues were to subside, although not certain, it would likely lead to a pause in the interest rate regime, if not a reduction, and could rapidly improve the economic mood.</blockquote>

<hr>Thank you for reading! If you're interested in learning more about PropertyPal's market reports or need additional information on the Northern Ireland housing market, please reach out to us at insights@propertypal.com. A member of our team will be happy to assist you.For media enquiries, please contact us at press@propertypal.com.Stay informed with the latest market insights by visiting our blog regularly!

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Monthly Market Snapshot: May 2023

Discover Useful Guides On Buying, Selling, Renting, Moving, Investing And Mortgages, As Well As Northern Ireland Housing Market Updates.

NI  Housing Market Update:

Introducing the Q2 2023 edition of our Northern Ireland Housing Market Update, where we examine the latest trends and developments in the Northern Ireland housing market. This report offers a thorough analysis of market performance, providing essential insights for buyers, sellers, and industry professionals.&nbsp;

<blockquote>Jordan Buchanan, Chief Executive Officer at PropertyPal commented on the housing market: &nbsp; Market conditions have seen a gradual slowdown in the rate of price growth and transaction activity in the past three months, albeit, both remain at broadly stable levels. There were approximately 6,200 properties ‘sale agreed, equivalent to a 5%-10% reduction on normal levels. A sharp increase in borrowing costs has continued to weaken affordability for mortgage buyers. However, last week saw the first sign of inflationary pressures easing as both headline and underlying core inflation fell at a faster rate than forecasters' expectations. This will be a relief to the Bank of England policy makers and may influence their interest rate setting choices next month. Markets still expect further rate rises, but the path of inflation is critical to this. Indeed, the inflation data is closely watched by markets and last week’s positive sign has already resulted in downward movement in swap rates, the financing mechanism used to underpin mortgage pricing. This should feed through into mortgage rates stabilising, if not falling in the near term.On pricing, a softening inflationary environment should naturally lead to price growth slowing. But moreso, weak consumer confidence and affordability pressures should continue to push prices down. This remains a bigger factor in Southern England markets and is reflected in several national house price publications which show N.Ireland continues to see stable prices and leading UK regional performance. On PropertyPal’s index, resale properties prices grew by 1.4% in the previous 3 month period and by 7.6% in the last year. New Homes experienced slower activity in both transactions and prices, with average values reducing by 0.4% over the quarter but rising by 4.8% over the year. The outlook still remains highly uncertain for the market and volatility is expected with each major economic data release. House prices have proved more resilient than perhaps expected given the scale of interest rate rises but transaction activity has fallen and is expected to continue. House-hunters remain engaged with strong enquiry levels being sent to estate agents for appropriately valued properties and on average are achieving ‘sale agreed’ status over 2 weeks faster than pre-covid levels.</blockquote>

Introducing the Q2 2023 edition of our Northern Ireland Housing Market Update.

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NI Housing Market Update: Q2 2023

Introducing the Q1 2023 edition of our Northern Ireland Housing Market Update, where we examine the latest trends and developments in the Northern Ireland housing market. This report offers a thorough analysis of market performance, providing essential insights for buyers, sellers, and industry professionals.&nbsp;

<blockquote>Jordan Buchanan, Chief Operating Officer at PropertyPal commented on the housing market:The housing market commenced the year with a solid performance, exhibiting more 'normal' levels of activity reminiscent of pre-COVID-19 levels. While this may seem considerably slower compared to the last two years' frantic pace, the underlying data suggests a stable market despite prevailing economic challenges.Market activity in January and February showcased a more cautious approach from both buyers and sellers, likely a result of residual efects from the economic turbulence in late 2022, including the mini-budget's volatile impact. However, as economic conditions stabilise and forecasts improve for the year, a notable uptick in home sales was observed in March. Indeed, sales during the month exceeded the pre-COVID-19 average by 4% and properties transacted approximately one week faster than usual.Regarding pricing, properties that are accurately valued continue to attract significant interest, as evidenced by high levels of user engagement and enquiries to agents via PropertyPal. Over the last three months, average listed prices experienced a growth of 1.6%, or an 8.1% increase over the past 12 months. As broader inflationary pressures are anticipated to ease in the coming months, it is expected that house price inflation will also decelerate.In relation to interest rates, stronger-than-anticipated inflation and wage data within the UK market might prompt the Bank of England to implement a further 0.25% base rate increase next month. Nevertheless, numerous lenders have already factored this in, and a more stable, confident lending environment has led to increased competition for business. Additionally, the robust performance of the labour market has also contributed to the housing market's resilience. A combination of these factors and a projected improvement in the economic mood, may see the housing market momentum continue in the coming period.</blockquote>

Introducing the Q1 2023 edition of our Northern Ireland Housing Market Update

Monthly Market Snapshot: May 2023

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