Property prices in Northern Ireland are edging upwards again after one of the world's most severe and protracted market collapses.

Figures compiled by the University of Ulster, using data from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and Bank of Ireland, point to a marginal increase in the average price of a house over the course of 2013.

The average price just over 12 months ago was £131,128 (€157,918). That average now stands at £132,922 or just over €160,000.

The most expensive area in which to buy a house remains north Down on the outskirts of east Belfast, where the average house price is £171,829 (€206,935). At the cheaper end of the scale is Derry city and Strabane, Co Tyrone, where the average is now £99,322 or €119,614.

Transactions are at their highest levels since the onset of the property crash in 2007.