NI house prices rising by a third

Northern Ireland's house prices continue to rise steadily

House prices in Northern Ireland are rising by almost a third every year, according to the latest values survey.

The cost of houses in some areas has increased by more than 65% in the past 12 months.

The University of Ulster report said Lisburn was now the highest priced area in Northern Ireland, with the city's average house price almost £227,000.

The survey comes as the SDLP warn about a major increase in house repossessions.

The report, which was produced in partnership with the Bank of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, said the average house price in Lisburn was now almost £227,000.

In Craigavon and Armagh, the annual increase was almost 50%, mid and south Down saw a rise of 45%.

The slowest growth - just under 18% - was in the Coleraine, Limavady and North Coast area.

Exorbitant house prices and some mortgage lenders prepared to offer up to 5.2 times the combined income of the house buyers, compared to 2.1 10 years ago" will lead to financial crises for many young families Patsy McGlone SDLP

The latest University of Ulster quarterly house price index said the average house price in Northern Ireland was now £180,128 - up by 32.1% on the year before.

Authors, Professor Alastair Adair, Professor Stanley McGreal and Louise Brown - said the new levels of house price inflation posed significant questions.

Prof McGreal said: "The rate of annual increase at over 30% has pushed the local housing market to new dimensions which could not have been predicted

"The big questions are whether this is a spike, how long can such rates of increase continue and what are the long-term implications for the housing market"."

Meanwhile, SDLP assembly member Patsy McGlone has asked for a meeting with the Council of Mortgage Lenders over the "130% increase in the number of house repossessions in the last five years".

"In 2001, there were a total of 425 house repossessions in the north. This has risen to 973 in 2006 to date," he said.

"The huge increase in house repossessions is extremely worrying and will have serious long term consequences."

AVERAGE REGIONAL PRICES N Ireland £180,128 Belfast £172,209 North Down £193,197 Lisburn £226,984 East Antrim £140,882 L'derry/Strabane £147,053 Antrim/Ballymena £171,248 Coleraine/Limavady/N Coast £200,550 Enniskillen/Fermanagh/ S Tyrone £202,965 Mid-Ulster £181,078 Mid & South Down £207,506 Craigavon/Armagh £176,145

He said that "with exorbitant house prices and some mortgage lenders prepared to offer up to 5.2 times the combined income of the house buyers, compared to 2.1 10 years ago" would lead to financial crises for many young families.

"Many are just teetering on the edge of losing their house," said Mr McGlone.

In Belfast the overall average price of a house was £172,209, a rise of more than 29% over a year.

The highest priced city location was south Belfast with an average of £208,270, followed by east Belfast with an average price of £192,811.

The average price in west Belfast rose to £143,575 while the north Belfast average price was £129,570.

In Lisburn there was a 42.8% gain over the year, with the average house there now costing £226,984.

In North Down, the overall average price of £193,197 represented an increase of almost 22.3%.

Market rises

For the East Antrim market the overall average price of £140,882 reflected a growth of 28.9%.

In Antrim/Ballymena the overall average house price rose by 21.5% to £171,248.

In Coleraine, Limavady and the North Coast, the growth was 17.8%% taking the average price just over the £200,000 mark for the first time (£200,550).

In Derry/Strabane a rise of 23.2% brought the average house price to £147,053.

The Mid-Ulster market average price was £181,087, up 26.3% over a year, while in Enniskillen/ Fermanagh/ South Tyrone the average sale price exceeded £200,000 (£209,965), up 25.7% across the year.

In Craigavon/Armagh the annual increase was 49% taking the overall average price to £176,145.

The Mid & South Down markets performed strongly increasing the average home price over the year to £207,506, reflecting an unprecedented annual increase of 45%.