HOUSE PRICES BOOST BELFAST IN UK’S TOP 15 FOR GROWTH AS VALUES RISE BY 4.5%
HOUSE prices in Belfast have increased by 4.5% over the past year with the average cost of a home rising to £129,700, new figures have revealed.
The latest Hometrack UK City House Price Index shows that Belfast is among the top 20 cities (15th) in the UK in relation to house price growth over the last 12 months.
Nationally house prices increased by 4.7%, with the average cost of a home in the UK reaching £213,600.
The news that house prices are increasing in Belfast comes after a report published last month showed prices in the east of the city are going up faster than anywhere else in Northern Ireland.
The study, compiled by Barclays Mortgages, reported the average house price in east Belfast rose from £123,257 in July 2016 to £131,690 in the same month this year — an increase of £8,433.
Samuel Dickey, partner at Si- mon Brien Estate Residential, told the Belfast Telegraph that average house prices in Belfast varied across the city.
He said the average price in south Belfast is currently around £178,000, east is £150,000, west is £120,000 and north is £99,000.
“East Belfast has seen a fastpaced rise this year,” he said. “There is a combination of factors. One is a lack of supply — we have not seen too many new homes in east Belfast coming on the market but there will be more next year. We have quite a swell of demand from people wanting to live around Ballyhackamore, Belmont village.
“You have got top-class senior schools and primary schools there, that gives you big demand. When you have the demand and not the supply, prices will go up.”
Mr Dickey said he expected to see single digit growth in the Belfast housing market in the coming years.
He added: “The market is strong, and we are heading out of 2017 on a positive note. There is nothing to suggest that prices will not continue to rise.”
The Hometrack report shows that price rises in Belfast have outstripped other cities such as London (2.7%), Cambridge (2%) and Oxford (0.7%).
Glasgow has seen the fastest rise in house prices, increasing by 7.9% to an average cost of £122,800, with Edinburgh coming in second with a 7.6% rise (£220,200). Other high growth cities include Leicester (7.5%), Birmingham (7.3%) and Manchester (6.6%).