NI house prices increase by 2 per cent

House prices in Northern Ireland increased by 2% over the three months to September, official statistics show.

Ten of the 11 district council areas showed an increase over the quarter.

The standardised price for Northern Ireland as a whole was £139,951 and ranged from £120,110 in Derry City and Strabane to £164,900 in Lisburn and Castlereagh.

The median price was five times median annual gross full-time earnings, according to Land and Property Services.

The house price index uses stamp duty data on residential house sales.

Results for the most recent quarter - July to September - show:

- Between Q2 (April-June) and Q3 (July-September) the index increased by 2.3%

- Between Q3 2018 and Q3 2019 the index increased by 4%

- 6,002 residential properties sold during Q3 (this will be revised upwards next quarter due to late returns)

- The number of properties sold in Q2 increased by 718 due to late returns

- The index is 26.1% higher than Q1 2015