HOUSE prices in Northern Ireland appear to have finally bottomed out, according to the latest survey of estate agents.
The report by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) and Ulster Bank said the 'price balance' - which indicates whether values are rising or falling - was positive during July.
That marked the first time since the housing crash in summer 2007 that the balance has remained positive for two consecutive months. The only other positive reading was in March this year.
Tom McClelland of Rics said:
"There will be bumps along the way but we are seeing an overall trend of improvement in the market that will continue, particularly at the lower end of the market."
The report indicated that the number of houses sold is rising but Mr McClelland said that was coming from a very low base.
"The stabilisation in prices is encouraging greater activity, albeit we are still some way off what would be considered healthy transaction volumes," he said.
"Trading up is still constrained as people who bought in the last 10 years have not been able to build inflation equity."
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