Average local house price now £101,971

The overall average sale price £101,971 fell by 4.8% over the quarter and by 3.7% over the year.

Performance by property types is variable with some sectors showing growth in the first quarter of 2012.

Over the quarter, the average price of terraced/townhouses rose by 12.4% to £61,056 while semi-detached houses rose by 5.4% to £98,834.

The Northern Ireland housing market remains subdued with sales remaining low and prices still trending downward, according to the most comprehensive residential property survey of the region.

The latest University of Ulster Quarterly House Price Index produced in partnership with Bank of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, showed the number of transactions in the first quarter of this year was 925, slightly down on the 960 sales in the last three months of 2011, and exactly the same as the number of sales in the same quarter last year.