Reasons to Buy Property in Northern Ireland

According to the very latest house price data available in Bank of Scotland International’s UK House Price Index, the top ten locations in terms of property price growth in the year to date have all been in Northern Ireland with the top two locations having witnessed a 55% gain in prices in just 12 months!

So far in 2007 there is no sign of let up in house price appreciation which means there are plenty of good reasons to buy property in Northern Ireland if you’re looking for a capital appreciating asset.

Since Bank of Scotland International (BOSI) began collating and publishing property price movements and developments, neither England, Scotland, Wales nor Northern Ireland have dominated alone and made it into every position in the top ten locations for house price appreciation – well all that has now changed because their latest findings, which came out today has towns from across Northern Ireland saturating the top ten locations for property price appreciation for the past year…

In part this is because prices were starting from a low position - but surging demand for real estate in regenerated locations has resulted in extremely positive property price growth for example. 

The survey from Bank of Scotland International cites additional reasons for favourable price expansion in Northern Ireland as well - such as the fact that the local economy is currently in a very strong position, that Northern Ireland is witnessing high levels of inward migration, and because holiday home buyers and property investors from the Republic of Ireland have been targeting their focus on the real estate marketplace North of the border.

The House Price Index survey also shows that the average property price in Northern Ireland has now shot through the GBP 200,000 barrier as well.  Now when you consider this in light of the fact that out of all the locations surveyed in England, Wales Scotland and Northern Ireland only now has every single location gone through the GBP 100,000 mark, you can see how well the property market is doing in Northern Ireland. 

(By the way, Lochgelly in Fife in Scotland was the only town to previously stubbornly remain below the GBP 100,000 mark for median property prices and now this figure has touched GBP 104,738).

The data from BOSI relating to the top ten UK hotspots is comparing prices in the first quarter of 2006 to the first quarter of 2007 - you can see that all the Northern Ireland locations making up the top ten positions have witness growth of 39% or over with towns in the top four positions having seen house price appreciation in excess of 50% in just one year. 

Overall, real estate in Northern Ireland has grown by an average of 76% since the first quarter of 2005 to date – whereas the UK average for this period is 18%.

So with all these figures, statistics, findings and analysis the question has to be asked - can price trends continue so positively in the UK and are there still enough reasons outstanding to buy property in Ireland and specifically Northern Ireland? 

Well, Martin Ellis who’s the Chief Economist at HBOS and who probably knows a thing or two about such issues seems to think that even in the face of interest rate increases and a tight property market, “sound economic fundamentals and an ongoing shortage of housing supply will continue to support house prices.”

So there you have it