The rebranding follows a company merger in December between leading estate agent the Eric Cairns Partnership and commercial and residential property specialist BTWShiells.

The new name and logo were unveiled following the move which has created the province's biggest property consultancy, employing 75 people.

Despite the move, though, the commercial side of the business will remain unaffected and continue to trade as BTWShiells.

BTWCairns will have a four-branch network of strategically placed offices, including the existing Eric Cairns Partnership offices at Lisburn Road and Holywood as well as the BTWShiells office in east Belfast. And a new office is due to open next month in the north of the city - all the offices will operate under the BTWCairns name.

The newly merged residential management team will include Simon Brien, Thomas O'Doherty and Trevor Dougan.

Mr Brien said the new company is looking forward to a busy year, despite some reports of falling house prices here.

"Recent forecasts are pointing to further growth in the local housing market," said Mr Brien. "We feel there is still huge potential in this marketplace and with many landmark developments already under construction and more planned, we foresee a healthy future for the local residential property market."