Social Development Minister Nelson McCausland has welcomed statistics recently published which confirm that nearly 5,000 residential property sales were completed in the last three months of 2013.

The Northern Ireland Housing Bulletin for October to December 2013, has verified that 4,827 house sales were completed during this time, a 28% increase on the same period for 2012 and the highest number of quarterly sales recorded since 2007.

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Minister McCausland said: "I welcome the news that house sales in Northern Ireland have risen to nearly 5,000 for the last quarter of 2013, the highest quarter sales since 2007.

"Research has shown that the housing market is beginning to move again and that first-time buyers are returning in substantial numbers to the housing market. Many have been helped by Co-ownership which, with financial support from the Northern Ireland Executive, has assisted 2,800 buyers since 2011.

"The UK Government's Help to Buy scheme has also begun to bear some fruit and in March, along with Finance Minister Simon Hamilton, I launched the Affordable Home Loans Fund. This fund will provide £19million to three housing associations to deliver up to 600 affordable homes across Northern Ireland."

(CD/JP)