Northern Ireland is property hotspot

4 January 2007

House prices in Northern Ireland rose faster than anywhere else in the UK at the end of last year, according to a new survey. 

Figures from the Nationwide’s survey of regional house prices show that house prices jumped 44.1% in the province.  That’s three times as fast as in Scotland, where prices rose by 16%.  Prices in London went up by just over 11%, and the average across the country was 10.5%. 

The boom in Northern Ireland means that the average price of a house there now stands at £181,031 – which is higher than the average for the UK as a whole, of £172,065.  It’s the first time this has happened since 1980. 

Nationwide economist, Fionnuala Earley, said: “The top three performers in the final quarter of the year were Northern Ireland, Scotland and London, but even the relatively weaker regions in the Midlands and North have seen a marked pick-up in house price inflation this quarter.”

This continuing growth in house prices across the UK has surprised many economists.  The feeling was that the market would slow down under the impact of two recent increases in interest rates by the Bank of England.

And it looks as if the housing market could well remain firm across the UK in 2007.  The Nationwide said it now expects the cost of the average house to rise by between 5% and 8% this year.  Fionnuala Earley said: “Looking forward, we expect that UK house price growth will be led by London and the South-East, where supply issues are most acute.”