Armagh sees strong price growth

Posted: 02 Nov 2007 11:54:21 GMT

Armagh has seen the largest increase in house prices in the last five years, according to new research.

Armagh has seen the largest increase in house prices in the last five years, according to new research.

The city in Northern Ireland has seen growth of 188 per cent since 2002, making it the best performing city in the UK.

The entire top four is made up of cities in Northern Ireland, with Newry (157 per cent), Lisburn (152 per cent) and Londonderry (132 per cent) following Armagh.

Bradford was the best performing city on the British mainland, recording price growth of 131 per cent.

"House prices in cities tend to be higher than the average price in their region. The attraction of shopping and leisure facilities, as well as a short commute for workers means that there will always be demand to live in cities," commented Martin Ellis, chief economist at Halifax Estate Agents.

"Many cities have also benefited from urban regeneration programmes that have seen the wide scale re-development of old industrial areas and canal side warehouses into residential properties.

"The strong performance of smaller cities, in particular, highlights that homebuyers are looking for attractive places to live in which also offer good transport links, easy commuting and convenient shopping," he added.

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