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House sales in Northern Ireland were down by 20% in the first half of 2023, official figures suggest.

The data from HMRC showed there were 11,030 housing transactions in the first six months of the year compared to 13,810 in the same period of 2022.

Apart from 2020 when house sales were disrupted by the pandemic it was the slowest start to a year since 2015.

Housing markets across the UK have cooled as rising interest rates have made mortgages more expensive.

The data suggests sales volumes may have started to pick up in June.

It was the busiest month of 2023 so far with 2,250 transactions, an increase of 24% on May and 8% below June 2022.

HMRC cautioned that the month-on-month increase may be distorted because there were a higher number of working days in June than in May.

The most recent official data suggests house prices in Northern Ireland saw their second consecutive quarterly fall in the first quarter of 2023.

The official House Price Index saw a 1.8% decline compared to the final quarter of 2022 giving an average price of £172,000.

The next official price data is due to be published in the middle of August.