Arthur Cox has responded to the publication of the latest Northern Ireland housing bulletin.

Alastair Todd, property partner at Arthur Cox, said: “Arthur Cox works closely with many of the local property market’s key stakeholders, both residential and commercial, and our team is familiar with the recent trends in the sector.

“The Northern Ireland housing bulletin has revealed that work commenced on 1,723 new homes in the three months to November 2017. The figure, recorded by Building Control, represents a 14.9 per cent decrease on the corresponding quarter the previous year.

“However, the number of dwellings completed increased to 1,616 in the period, a 4.3 per cent rise on the figure from July to September 2016.

“The average price of a newly-built home also rose, with the most recent data from the National House Building Council (NHBC) placing the average price of an NHBC-registered property in the three months to June at £158,300, compared to £157,300 for the same period in 2016.”