New houses in Northern Ireland have risen in price by more than a third on this time last year.
The Department of Social Development (DSD) published the figures relating to dwellings registered with the National House Building Council (NHBC).
They show that new houses sold during the last quarter were on average £188,000 (€279,500), up from £137,000 (€203,600) for the same period in 2006, a rise of just over 37 per cent.
There remains a distinct imbalance in the new housing market between east and west with the lowest new house prices in Dungannon, Co Tyrone (£145,700) and the most expensive in Lisburn, Co Antrim (£284,600).
Second-hand homes have enjoyed a more moderate rise. The average estimated intended selling price of NHBC-registered private sector flats and maisonettes was £165,000. This marks a rise of £17,000 or 11.5 per cent higher than the quarter ending in March last year.
According to the department, detached houses represented nearly a quarter of all NHBC-registered intended housing starts.
The total of actual commencements for the quarter showed an 11 per cent decrease in the number recorded for the same quarter in 2006.
There were 3,919 new starts for the last quarter, down from 4,438 for the equivalent quarter the previous year. The figures show that the Belfast area showed the largest drop in supply with a decrease of nearly 44 per cent over the year.
Following the restoration of devolution in May, Margaret Ritchie, the DSD Minister, has committed her department to helping first-time buyers to get onto the housing ladder and to improving the housing supply. She will open schemes in nationalist and loyalist areas of west Belfast today. It is estimated that 2,000 new homes are needed annually for the next five years to ease demand for social housing.
Tax relief for private landlords in should be stopped, according to a University of Ulster academic, who has argued that the concession helps speculators over those in need of housing.