Q3 2000 new house-building statistics Northern Ireland 14/02/06
HOUSE-BUILDING STATISTICS - THIRD QUARTER 2000
New figures for the third quarter of 2000 show that house building activity in Northern Ireland saw little increase on last year. NHBC (National House-Building Council) statistics released today show a rise of less than a quarter of a per cent on the third quarter of 1999.
NHBC figures for Northern Ireland reveal that a total of 2,290 applications were made to start new homes during the quarter, an increase of less than a quarter of a per cent on the same period in 1999 (2,285).
Tom Kirk, NHBC director for Northern Ireland, says: "Despite the small increase this quarter, house building registrations for the first three quarters of 2000 were up 11 per cent on the same period in 1999. These are good figures for the year so far."
In Northern Ireland the average anticipated selling price of new homes (registered with NHBC) during the third quarter of 2000 was £84,000, a five per cent increase on quarter three 1999 (£80,000). Based on actual selling prices, the proportion of homes sold for over £100,000 was 19.4 per cent, an increase on the same period last year (15.5 per cent).
For quarter three NHBC's first time buyers' ability to buy index stood at 114, six points higher than the previous quarter. The index is based on a formula which takes into account the average cost of homes bought by first time buyers, average income and mortgage interest rates (from the Nationwide Building Society). The higher the index, the greater the ability to buy.
UK-wide figures (including the Isle of Man) show a total of 39,425 applications to start new homes during the quarter, a decrease of less than one per cent on the same period in 1999 (39,535). Of that total, 35,600 relate to private sector activity (i.e. excluding housing associations), an increase of one and a half per cent on 1999 (35,050). Housing association starts totalled 3,825, a decrease of 15 per cent on quarter three 1999 (4,485).
NHBC figures show there were 36,200 new build completions during the third quarter of 2000, down seven per cent on the same quarter last year (39,100).
The figure for the average daily sales of homes in the third quarter of 2000 is 505, a decrease of nine per cent on the same period a year ago (555).
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