Sales activity in the north’s residential property market continued to slow towards the end of 2023, official data published by HMRC suggests.
Provisional numbers compiled by the UK government agency show 2,080 residential property transactions were recorded in Northern Ireland for the month of November.
It made it the weakest November for sales recorded here since 2014.
Total sales to date for 2023 after 11 months totalled 21,560 according to the latest HMRC data.
That’s 4,700 fewer sales than the same period in 2022 and 10,050 below 2021, when sales hit 31,610 in the first 11 months.
Outside 2020, when activity in the housing market was significantly disrupted by the Covid-19 lockdown, year-to-date sales in the north’s property market are at their lowest level since 2014.
While consumer sentiment has been hit by hikes in mortgage rates, the rate at which new housing stock is being started and completed is considerably down in Northern Ireland in 2023.
The number of new houses completed in the first nine months of 2023 (3,889) was 22.5% down on the same period last year and 29% below the same period in 2019.
