THE average price paid by homeowners moving house in the north remained the lowest in the UK in 2016, a report has found.
Existing homeowners moving could expect to pay around £162,676 in Northern Ireland last year, a 3 pre cent increase from 2015, according to figures from Lloyds Bank. Prices in the UK as a whole reached a record high of £291,777.
The average amount of equity injected into a new home mover house in the north was £45,371 – around 28 per cent of the purchase. The average across the UK was £96,698, equating to around a third of the typical purchase price.
However, the number of existing homeowners moving house fell last year, marking the first annual fall in five years, a report has found.
There were an estimated 354,000 home movers in 2016, down 4 per cent compared with 2015 and the first time since 2011 that the annual total has fallen year-on-year, according to the bank.
Longer-term mortgages which last beyond the traditional 25 years have also gained favour with home movers over the past 10 years. In 2006, less than one in five home mover mortgages lasted beyond 25 years. But by 2016, nearly two in five of such mortgages were for 25 to 35 years.
Overall, the number of home movers in 2016 was 12 per cent higher than a low point in 2009, but still only around half the levels seen in 10 years earlier, in 2006, when there were 712,100 home movers.
Andrew Mason, Lloyds Bank mortgages director, said the fall in the number of home movers could be a result of several factors.
"Whilst higher prices will have lifted equity levels for many current owners, the low availability of the 'right type' of homes for those looking to move up the housing ladder may have constrained market activity," he said.
"Of course, higher prices may explain why more home movers are opting for longer mortgage terms.
"The ability of home movers, particularly those in their first homes, to move on is an important component in the housing market as it increases the supply of properties, providing homes for new first-time buyers."
