The cost of buying a new home in Northern Ireland has fallen by over 7% since last year.

The latest NI Housing Bulletin, just published, said that with year-on comparisons the average selling price of National House Building Council (NHBC)-registered new houses sold was £157,300, a decrease of £13,100 (7.7%) on the same quarter in 2010.

The Bulletin includes sales of new houses and apartments during the period January to March 2011, and was published by the Department for Social Development.

The average selling price of NHBC-registered new houses ranged from £130,400 in Belfast Local Government District to £196,300 in Derry Local Government District.

The average estimated intended selling price of NHBC-registered private sector flats and maisonettes was £95,000, some £24,000 (20.2%) lower than the quarter ending March 2010.

Detached houses represented 40% of all NHBC intended housing starts.

The total number of NHBC starts recorded for this quarter (391) represented a decrease of 47.9% on the number of starts recorded for the same quarter in 2010.

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In other data published in the report, it has emerged that a total of 5,759 households presented as homeless to the NI Housing Executive, with 'Sharing Breakdown/Family Dispute' being the most common reason cited.

Great Britain 'Levels Out'

Latest data from NHBC also revealed a steady level of new home registrations nationally in the first six months of 2011, but shows there is still a way to go for the GB housing market.

According to the figures, housebuilders registered 9% more new homes during the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2010 (63,832 Jan-Jun 2011 compared to 58,571 Jan - Jun 2010).

In Quarter 1, 2011, 30,012 new homes were registered (7% higher than the comparable figure in 2010), a figure boosted by registrations for new homes at the Athletes' Village. Healthy registrations in June ahead of the summer building period also contributed to the number of registrations during Quarter 2, 2011 being 11% higher than Q2 2010 (33,820, Apr-Jun 2011 compared to 30,597, Apr-Jun 2010).

Imtiaz Farookhi, Chief Executive of NHBC, said: "The number of new home registrations for the year to date has been positive and an increased number of registrations during quarter two has set the momentum ahead of the summer period.

"However, with mortgage lending still at historically low levels there remains uncertainty about whether new home sales levels will be sufficient to sustain this increased activity. We will therefore follow activity during the second half of this year with optimistic interest."

The full NI report can be found on the Department for Social Development's website at: DSD

(BMcC/GK)