NI property - why so many for sale?

ArnieSilvia

Can someone explain the current situation with properties in the North?

I'm considering moving to UK but also checked properties in NI and I found the amount of houses for sale is very high for the size of the market. Comparable town in ROI would have way less houses for sale, I'm suspicious about the prices as well.

I understand that the wages are low there, rental income is nowhere near ROI prices, local authority tax can be 2k.

It can be a simple matter of disposable income, but what proportion these other factors might have:

1. Brexit - people want to offload property before trouble begins (any scenario possible - from economy going down to warzone and merger with the South ?????)

2. The elephant in the North - notorious "trouble", division of society, violence on the streets, parades nonsense, in effect nobody willing to live there and to work there, people just don't want to put up with the nonsense and want peaceful life either in ROI or UK

Thanks

catrionanic

There are a number of factors at play.

People do earn a lot less than in the south, so prices will never be as high.

But there are a lot of not very desirable areas to live up north also, particularly on the cities. You really have to know a bit about the areas before you buy. As a catholic, there are huge portions of every city, and indeed whole towns, which aren't a safe option for me. If I was a Protestant, the same would apply. So this restricts the amount of buyers available also.

newacc2015

The factor is Ireland has an abnormally low amount of houses for sale. There should be multiples of the amount of houses for sale in Ireland. But due to face we have a kaput banking system and so many houses in arrears that people cant sell, people in negative equity etc. We have an artificially low level of houses for sale.

One factor affecting NI is the fact non-residents didnt pay CGT on property in the UK. Now they have to, so a lot of people maybe be selling up as capital appreciation is now taxed.

Lumen

Are you comparing Belfast with Dublin? Dublin is a capital city whereas Belfast is a small regional city (ranked approx 22 in population terms) and disconnected from the mainland.

OTOH Dublin has no green belt and copious amounts of free land; Dublin prices simply make no rational sense but we've become inured to them.

Brexit might indeed be a factor.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/news/northern-ireland-house-prices-climb-78-but-brexit-chills-market-35141456.html

Construction costs are definitely lower up north, e.g. development levies are a tiny fraction of what they are here.

catrionanic wrote: »

As a catholic, there are huge portions of every city, and indeed whole towns, which aren't a safe option for me. If I was a Protestant, the same would apply. So this restricts the amount of buyers available also.

Even if the first part is true, it wouldn't affect prices unless the supply/demand balance was different for protestant and catholic areas (e.g. protestant area high supply but low demand), and in that case the other areas would be correspondingly overpriced.

jimmycrackcorm

ArnieSilvia wrote:

I'm considering moving to UK but also checked properties in NI and I found the amount of houses for sale is very high for the size of the market. Comparable town in ROI would have way less houses for sale, I'm suspicious about the prices as well.

It's not that the number is very high in NI, but that is normal, and conversely the number for sale in ROI is abnormally low in comparison.