Armagh revealed as UK's top property hotspot

Armagh in Northern Ireland has been revealed as the city with the fastest rising property prices in the UK.

According to research released today by Halifax Estate Agents, the city has seen prices increase 188 per cent in the last five years.

The increase places the city on top of a list of the 66 official cities in the UK.

The top four cities recording the largest increases in the last five years were all in Northern Ireland.

Newbury, Lisburn and Londonderry all followed Armagh, with growth of 157, 152 and 132 per cent respectively.

"House prices in cities tend to be higher than the average price in their region," commented Martin Ellis, chief economist at Halifax Estate Agents.

"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."

Improving environments in some cities have made them more attractive for homebuyers in recent years.

"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," continued Mr Ellis.

"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."

For example Armagh is one of the smallest cities in the UK, with a population of just over 15,000.

Bradford was the best performing city on the British mainland, with prices up 131 per cent.

This was followed by two Scottish cities, Dundee and Aberdeen, where prices increased 130 and 125 per cent respectively.