Northern Ireland leads house price rises

Northern Ireland dominated a new list of the UK towns that experienced the highest growth in house prices in the past year.

Newry, Antrim, Craigavon, Londonderry, Ballymena, Lisburn and Belfast all appeared in the top ten of Halifax's House Price Index for the third quarter of 2006, with Antrim and Newry heading the list with a house price growth of 46 per cent in the past year.

House price growth in Northern Ireland has been driven by a more favourable affordability position compared to the rest of the UK, Halifax said, as well as a strong labour market and high immigration boosting demand.

The other towns in the top ten were Oban and Kilmarnock in Scotland, plus Nelson in Lancashire.

Strong house price growth was also recorded in the north, south-west and south-east of England, while the number of towns with an average house price below £100,000 fell from more than 100 three years ago to just one – Lochgelly in Fife – this year.

The Yorkshire and Humber and east Midlands regions experienced slight falls in house prices, probably due to strained affordability, said the building society, with average house prices more than doubling in these regions in the past five years.