Two Northern Ireland banks have the poor state of the housing market in focus with news from the Bank of Ireland that the average house price fell again last year.

However, as Alan Bridle from the Bank of Ireland was commenting on the latest survey of domestic property prices that showed a fall of 7.7% last year, Northern Bank was busy removing arrangement fees and reducing rates across all of its fixed rate and Base Rate Tracker mortgages.

They said this was a bid to stimulate activity in the local mortgage market.

The move is part of a new campaign challenging consumers to see if Northern Bank can reduce their mortgage repayments.

According to Mark Beattie, Head of Mortgages at the Northern, the challenge is designed to remove barriers to switching mortgages and to encourage consumers to compare prices to see if they could reduce their monthly repayments.

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"We are in an excellent position to help all types of customers whether they are looking for a better deal, thinking of moving house or buying their first home," he said.

The news helps lift the gloom as the Bank of Ireland expert predicted it would be the end of 2011 before NI will see the market bottoming out.

Alan Bridle was commenting on the University of Ulster's House Price Index that shows the region has yet to see a housing recovery.

He said the market has become increasingly lower priced with 92% of properties selling at or below £150,000 - while at the peak of the housing boom, less than 10% of properties went for below £150,000.

Mr Bridle said the market faces "further headwinds in the next 12 months, both on the demand and supply sides".

The quarterly survey, produced in partnership with the Bank of Ireland and the NI Housing Executive, polled 110 estate agents around Northern Ireland for the final quarter of last year and found that the overall average price of a house was £149,795.

House sale figures continued to fall, with a sample of 684 transactions in the fourth quarter compared to 795 in the third quarter and 1,009 in the second.

The authors of the report, Professor Alastair Adair, Professor Stanley McGreal and Dr David McIlhatton said the difficult second half of 2010 contrasted with "tentative signs of recovery" in the first half of the year.

(BMcC/GK)