Average housein Ballymena now £174,965

THE average cost of a house in Ballymena now sits at £174, 965, representing an annual rise of 9.9%, a survey carried out by the University of Ulster has found.

According to the report, continued improvement in the local market was helped by the performance of the detached house sector and by prices for terraced/townhouses.

The survey also found that house prices in Northern Ireland generally rose moderately by 4.9% in the first three months of this year, in contrast to a decline of 35% in the first quarter of 2009.

While the overall average price of a house in Northern Ireland for the first quarter of this year was 169,497 compared to 161,429 in the final quarter of 2009, the number of sales reported by the 120 estate agents in the survey rose to 800 throughout January, February and March compared to 692 in the same period last year.