542 possession orders were granted to financial institutions in Northern Ireland in the first quarter of this year, according to the Northern Ireland courts service.
This contrasts with yesterday's figures from the Central Bank of Ireland, showing that the courts in the Republic granted just 136 possession orders during the same period.
Northern Ireland has approximately 600,000 households, compared with an estimated 1.5 million households in the Republic.
The Northern Ireland court service says that the granting of a possession order (allowing a bank to repossess a house from a borrower in default) does not automatically lead to the property being repossessed, and that the parties can still negotiate a solution.
In the Republic, the Central Bank says that during the first quarter the banks repossessed 140 properties, of which 49 were on foot of a court order. The remainder were voluntarily handed back or abandoned by borrowers.
In total the Northern Ireland courts made 822 orders relating to properties - as well as the 542 possession orders, a further 236 possession orders were suspended, three cases were dismissed and four struck out.
In the Republic during the same period, 231 court proceedings were concluded - 136 possession orders were granted, while in the remaining cases no orders were made, because in 37 cases there was a settlement between the bank and the borrower, and in 58 cases the properties were abandoned or voluntarily surrendered, or the case settled on other terms.
