UK's top 10 property hotspots revealed

Massive house price rises of 46 per cent in Newry and Antrim in Northern Ireland have made the towns the UK's top property hotspots, according to new research from Halifax.

In the last year, the Northern Irish town of Newry's average house prices rose £57,212, from £123,334 the third quarter of 2005 to £180,546 in the third of quarter of 2006.

Similarly, prices rose an average of £50,857 from £110,320 to £161,177 over the same period in Antrim.

However, it is not just Newry and Antrim registering massive rises in Northern Ireland.

Seven of the top ten towns with the largest price rises were in Northern Ireland - Craigavon (up 36 per cent), Londonderry (up 31 per cent), Ballymena (up 31 per cent), Lisburn (up 31 per cent) and Belfast (up 29 per cent).

Also in the top ten were two towns in Scotland: Kilmarnock in Ayrshire (up 35 per cent) and Oban in Argyll (up 32 per cent).

The only English town to make the top ten was Nelson in Lancashire, which saw average prices rise 39 per cent, the third highest in the country.

Commenting on the figures, Halifax chief economist Martin Ellis said: "Towns in Northern Ireland dominate the list of ten towns that have delivered the strongest house price rises in the UK over the past year.

"This partly reflects the more favourable housing affordability position in the country compared to the rest of the UK. 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."

Commenting on the property market as whole, he said: "The market is underpinned by sound fundamentals. A number of developments are nonetheless expected to constrain housing demand and moderate house price inflation over the coming months.

"Further substantial increases in utility bills and recent mortgage rate increases will put pressure on householders' finances, curbing housing demand." XXX