Latest house price survey shows wide variation

But while the University of Ulster survey showed an overall drop of 3.6%, it also revealed a wide variation on the cost of different house types.

Terraced and townhouses in the city are up over the year by 18.6% while semi-detached homes are nearly a quarter cheaper - down by 23.4%.

The Quarterly House Price Index, produced in partnership with Bank of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, said that overall the rate at which house prices were falling had dropped from 35% at the start of 2009 to just below 7% at the end of the year.

The authors of the report - Prof Alastair Adair, Prof Stanley McGreal, Louise Brown and David McIlhatton - said: "This latest survey indicates an improving housing market. Although overall average prices are still down, the rate of price decline has slowed significantly, with prospects for a modest increase in price levels during 2010."

The price statistics are based on a sample of 1,050 transactions in the fourth quarter of last year. Although that is about half of what would be expected under normal conditions, the report said there had been a significant increase in the number of sales from recent surveys, suggesting a recovery in the market could be underway.

The survey put the overall average price of a house in Northern Ireland in the fourth quarter of 2009 at 161,429.

This represented a decrease of 0.9% compared to the average price in third quarter but represented a slight rise on the average price for the second quarter. The report said this type of variability was to be expected as the market recovers in a slightly hesitant manner.

[email protected]