Northern Irish counties see huge price growth

Published: February 04, 2008

The average property in county Armagh, Northern Ireland, increased in value by 331 per cent between 1997 and 2007.

That is according to the latest Halifax County House Price Survey, which revealed that Armagh saw the most impressive growth in the last ten years.

It is good news for those who took out first time buyer mortgages for properties in the region a decade ago and impressive growth was also recorded elsewhere.

County Tyrone saw growth of 315 per cent, while another Northern Irish county, Antrim, witnessed an increase of 293 per cent.

Five of the top ten regions for price growth were in Northern Ireland, with Carmarthenshire (287 per cent), Wales, the highest ranked county outside of the province.

"The counties recording the best house price performance over the past ten years have mainly been outside southern England. Four of the five counties with the highest house price growth are in Northern Ireland reflecting the strength of the housing market there over the past few years," said Halifax chief economist Martin Ellis.

"All counties in the UK have seen at least a doubling in prices since 1997. Prices in more than four in ten counties trebled or more.

"There are now only 20 counties in the UK with an average house price below £150,000; ten years ago, every county was below the threshold," he continued.