New staff for estate agents on the move Housing leading road to recovery Ulster property market ignores Brexit concerns

The residential property market in Northern Ireland is ignoring the political uncertainty around Brexit and outshining the rest of the UK.

That is the conclusion of a survey of estate agents by industry body RICS which said expectations for house prices here in the months ahead are the strongest of all regions.

RICS residential property spokesman Samuel Dickey said the optimism is in line with a robust economy.

He added: “Overall, the latest survey paints a relatively upbeat picture for the Northern Ireland housing market.

“Indeed, Northern Ireland and Scotland are the only parts of the UK where surveyors are confident that prices will rise meaningfully over the near-term.

“With key indicators for the local economy continuing to show strong growth in the private sector, this optimism is perhaps unsurprising.” Mr Dickey said the availability of new housing stock is also underpinning prices here.

He added: “The one key challenge though remains supply, with surveyors continuing to indicate that availability of stock remains a problem.”

The news follows a buoyant few months for the local market but goes against indications from London, a region often considered as a leading indicator of the sector.

A recent report from Nationwide showed average house prices in London fell for the first time in eight years, dropping by a not-inconsiderable 0.6% in the third quarter of the year compared to the same time in 2016.

The same findings showed prices

here jumped by 2.4% to £133,659, a level which may be improving but is still the second lowest of the 12 UK regions surveyed.

The Nationwide report put average London house prices at £471,761, more than three-and-ahalf times Northern Ireland prices. Hints by the Bank of England that it may soon decide to increase historically low interest rates are thought to have weighed on the London market.

But Nationwide’s chief economist Robert Gardner said only a modest rise is expected and it won’t have a significant effect on the UK market. He added: “Providing the economy does not weaken further, the impact of a small rise in interest rates on UK households is likely to be modest. “This is partly because the proportion of borrowers directly impacted will be smaller than in the past.

“In recent years the vast majority of new mortgages have been extended on fixed interest rates.”

ESTATE agency Simon Brien Residential has taken on five staff after it opened a new office. The premises in Newtownards, Co Down, is part of a company-wide expansion for the firm with another 12 posts created in South and East Belfast and Holywood, Co...