Local house prices drop by 4% over last quarter

New provisional data compiled by the Land & Property Services assisted by the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency showed that buying a home in the city and district fell by 4 per cent on the previous quarter.

The House Price Index report for Quarter 1 2019 (January to March) states that the average price of a residential property in Derry City & Strabane Council area now stands at £120,651.

The area is the second cheapest in terms of property of the 11 council areas in Northern Ireland, with Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon coming in at the least expensive.

Despite the decrease, however, the year-on-year price changes in Derry and Strabane show that house prices here are still 6.5 per cent higher than they were during the first quarter of 2018 - almost double the N. Ireland average.

Overall in NI, house prices fell slightly by one per cent compared to the last three months of 2018, with 4,272 houses sold during January to March.

Eight of the 11 district council areas showed a decrease over the quarter, with the average price for N. Ireland at £134,811.

Across the Causeway Coast and Glens area, prices rose at the start of this year by 2.3 per cent, with the average house price £144,168.