House price growth fastest in Northern Ireland

According to the Halifax house price index, 7 out of the top 10 places which saw rises in property prices over the last year, were to be found in Northern Ireland.

Newry and Antrim in Northern Ireland have seen property prices increase by 46% over the last year and have the fastest growing house prices in the UK.

Craigavon, Londonderry, Ballymena, Lisburn and Belfast were the other Northern Irish towns in the list. The only places outside Northern Ireland in the top ten were Nelson in Lancashire, Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, and Oban in Argyle.

Martin Ellis, Halifax's chief economist believes that this is due to these areas offering more affordable housing, "Notably, all ten towns recording the strongest price rises over the past year had average house prices that were comfortably below the national average this time last year."

In the UK, there is only one town where the average property value is less than £100,000 - Lochgelly in Fife.