Improved mortgage affordability is supporting an increase in home sales enquiries, as the housing market’s strong momentum of late 2025 continued into January, according to PropertyPal.
Enquiries for properties for sale are up 13% year-on-year, PropertyPal’s monthly snapshot reveals, compared with 6% growth in rental enquiries, reflecting something of a shift towards home ownership.
The relative affordability of purchasing a home for a first-time buyer has improved considerably compared with renting. The average monthly rent for a 2/3 bed property in Northern Ireland is now £104 per month higher than the average mortgage payment for such properties (based on a 30 year term).
With increased interest in buying, in the form of higher sales enquiries, properties are selling more quickly than last year, with the average time to sale agreed being 54 days in January 2026 compared to 58 days in January 2025.
Prices in the sales market also continued to move upwards, with the average house price in Northern Ireland now £239,862 – 5% higher than this time last year.
Jordan Buchanan, Chief Executive Officer at PropertyPal said: “Market conditions in January continued the momentum from late 2025, with both house prices and rents now growing at a more sustainable pace of around 5% annually. Rental demand is easing as improved mortgage affordability is supporting activity in the sales market. Indeed, enquiries for properties for sale are up 13% year-on-year, compared with 6% growth in rental enquiries, reflecting this shift towards home ownership.
“Recent base rate cuts have fed through to more competitive mortgage products over recent weeks. Furthermore, inflation has continued to ease faster than expected which increases the likelihood of further rate cuts, potentially as early as the Bank of England’s next meeting in March.
“There were approximately 1,500 newly agreed sales in January, down around 14% on recent annual averages. However, this appears to be more of a timing effect, with activity accelerating in the latter half of the month and a healthy pipeline building as we move into the busy spring market.”