Slow-down in NI's property market

Figures on mortgage lending obtained by the BBC show a significant decline in the number of home loans for house purchase.

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), 16,500 mortgages were granted in Northern Ireland between January and August last year.

Three thousand fewer loans were made in the same period this year - a 19% drop.

In August, banks and building societies loaned £193m in mortgages to local homebuyers, down from £270m in the same month last year - a decline of 39%.

These figures do not include re-mortgaging, they cover first-time buyers and people moving from one house to another.

Sources in the banking industry say some of the small, independent mortgage brokers who entered the market during the house price boom may not survive the slow-down.

Two recent house price surveys - from the Halifax and Nationwide - showed that the market locally has cooled.

If the data is taken togther, it suggests that house prices in the last quarter stayed level.

It is understood that some developers have stopped building new homes in recent weeks, as house sales have tailed off.