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NI property crowds top ten for inflation

23/04/2007
Property in Northern Ireland has broken records again, with all of the top ten towns showing the biggest house price inflation annually being located in the province.

Halifax's House Price Index shows that housing in Craigavon and Newtownards increased in price by 55 per cent over the past year, showing a higher rate of inflation than anywhere else in the UK.

An average house in Craigavon was valued at £183,795 in the first quarter of 2007, while an average property cost £118,551 for the same period last year. Newtownwards properties now cost £197,134, up from 2006's £127,590 price tag.

Solicitors in Northern Ireland are less likely than ever to see first time buyers hiring them for conveyancing services as new buyers are being squeezed out of the market by the over-inflated prices.

An average house will now cost £206,495 in the province, outstripping the overall UK average price by seven per cent in the first quarter of this year.

Analysts attribute the rate of growth to the strength of the economy, increased immigration and high housing demand.

Yet Halifax chief economist, Martin Ellis, says that inflation is set to cool: "House prices continue to rise in a tight market, but there are emerging signs that pressure on householders' finances - partly due to the rise in interest rates since last August - is dampening housing demand."

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Tags: Lender Services, Residential Property, Residential Conveyancing 
 

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