Northern Ireland homeowners have amassed £58 billion in equity over the last 10 years due to rising house prices, it was revealed today.
With equity increasing every day as the North enjoys the sharpest price rises in the Britain, the Northern Bank study found the average homeowner has made nearly £134,000 in the past decade.
The scale of appreciation emerged as a separate report warned that the buy-to-let housing boom may have peaked.
Paddy Gray, a senior lecturer in the University of Ulster, who led the study, said buy-to-lets had surged by 120 per cent over a 15-year period.
But Mr Gray said there was also evidence of increasing numbers of vacant properties in the private rented sector.
"By 2004 there were over 12,000 vacant properties, bringing the total number of private rented properties to 75,000," he said.
The research was commissioned and published by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.
PA