No detailed data available for Northern Ireland, just the comments from narked EAs blaming the bad press and interest rates!
What about the unnafordability, the elephant in the room?

NORTHERN IRELAND
Coleraine– Co. Londonderry
Philip Tweedle Esq MRICS
O’Connor Kennedy Turtle
1. The media has published a lot of negative material which has created a lot of uncertainty among house buyers.
2. This month’s price reductions have stirred up new activity and interest within the housing market.

Londonderry – Co. Londonderry
Aldan Conway Esq BSc MRICS
Patrick Andrews Chartered Surveyors
Increased buyer enquiries although market still sluggish. The imminent reduction in interest rates may help
encourage sales.

Newry – Co. Down
Bronagh Boyd MRICS
Digney Boyd Ltd
Still no keen first time buyers in the market. The indication is they wish to see the interest rate decrease. However,
enquiries are increasing and viewings are increasing.

Lisburn – County Antrim
Bill McCann Esq MRICS
Bill McCann Estate Agency
Increase in level of enquiries, viewings and orders. Vendors more prepared to consider competitive price adjustments.
Less media ‘doom & gloom’ stories and a further reduction of interest rates would give a welcome and necessary boost to
the market in general.

Enniskillon – County Fermanagh
Harold Montgomery Esq FRICS
Montgomery Finlay & Company
General lack of confidence.

Full report available on:
http://www.rics.org/NR/rdonlyres/06197498-...yJan2008WEB.pdf

Lisburn – County Antrim
Bill McCann Esq MRICS
Bill McCann Estate Agency
Increase in level of enquiries, viewings and orders. Vendors more prepared to consider competitive price adjustments.
Less media ‘doom & gloom’ stories and a further reduction of interest rates would give a welcome and necessary boost to
the market in general.....basically we're screwed and want the papers/media to stop telling people what's going on so we can make money before we go bankrupt...

Interesting that viewings are going up though.

My brother was at a showhouse in Antrim on Sunday cause he's looking to buy he said it was bunged with viewers, seems to be an upturn in interest.

Bull trap?

'Surveyors reported seeing house price falls across all regions of England and Wales during the last three months, with the downward pressure worst in Northern Ireland, where the balance was 88 per cent, the North of England (72 per cent) and the North West (66 per cent).'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/arti...in_page_id=1770

Here's Helen Carsons 'spin' on the same report (look away now if you don't like seriously crap & misleading reporting):

First signs buyers are back in house market
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Thursday, February 14, 2008

By Helen Carson

Falling house prices in Northern Ireland are enticing buyers back into the market, it was claimed yesterday.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Housing Survey, sponsored by Ulster Bank, has reported property prices here fell again in January.

And recent figures show 88% of surveyors say prices dipped at the beginning of the year compared to 82% in December.

The majority of surveyors (38%) reported price drops of 5% plus in the local market. A further 29% said house prices fell by between 2% and 5%, with another 20% noting values down by up to 2%, with prices remaining the same for 13% of those questioned.

Despite this though, there is evidence that buyers are returning to the market with a reported rise in property viewings.

RICS Northern Ireland housing spokesman, Tom McClelland, said: "The pattern of house price adjustment experienced in the final quarter of last year continued into January, however, chartered surveyors are now reporting a rise in enquiries and viewings."

He said this should translate into an increase in house sales in the next few months.

Mr McClelland added: "Many potential buyers have taken a 'wait and see' approach, but we are now ready to consider purchasing following the interest rate cuts and with the potential to buy at a time when competition in the market is still low."


Mr McClelland should have more sense than to speculate whether viewings now will translate into near future sales, then again he's a VI hoping for more business for all his buddies.

HC is an utter disgrace to the journalistic profession

no allegedly about it

A few very general comments not aimed at anyone in particular -

I find it interesting that a fall of 20% is described by some as "a period of adjustment" whereas an increase of 20% was widely reported as a boom in the press back in the mad days.

I also find it interesting that once again we have the "but XXX is a slow month anyway" rationale. It would seem to me that March April and May would seem to be the only months in recent times not described by someone as normally slow. Will Easter be blamed for any slowness in March?

House prices here fell by £193 A DAY in December - thats not spin, thats fact!

I am most happy to stand as evidence that first time buyers are not being encouraged back into the market. I keep saying it. I earn way above NI average and no one has yet pointed out a house which is affordable and of any quality. I am sorry, it may be snobbish but anyone in my position will agree, but I have not worked my ass off to get a well paid job requiring high qualifications only to buy an ex council house in an area I am fearful to be in once the light has gone.

I wonder if certain journalists might be interested in showing my graph in their papers - I demand no charge, reproduce it as you see fit

Seriously though, these figures are from the RICS reports (from October onwards I have obtained the data from the media reporting on the RICS report as since then RICS seem not to publish NI stats in the report), and show the percentage of EA's reporting rises or falls in respect of Northern Ireland.

Fact not Spin, and sets out why you would be totally bonkers to buy now when there is an 88% chance the house will be cheaper next month, and a 38% chance it will be over 5% cheaper!

Talksalot, you've crystalised the sentiment of many sensible people, reluctant to jump in and buy any old place 'just to get on the ladder'. After affordability, most people will ask themselves do I really want to live on the same estate where mini maddog hoodlums prowl.



Nice work Jacko79 and welcome, we are most definately in bull trap territory at the minute.
All hype and no substantial evidence to prove otherwise. Expect this to increase over the next few months. You might even be fooled into thinking that HPI has taken off again, as stories of viewings, not sales 'soar'. There will be a concerted campaign by all VI's embedded in the media and EA's to muddy the waters and confuse in particular those who are most suggestable to their BS- the trusty FTB. Notice how most of the properties in the Propertynews print version and the Belfastproperty online are sub 200k. Ideal fishing gear to reel in those gullible FTB's.
Ramping the market now by all concerned VI's now is the olny plausable way they can make any sales this year, during the traditional spring selling season IMO.