Northern Ireland tops the house price growth table

A new study from Halifax Estate Agents has shown that Bradford has outperformed all other English cities in terms of house price growth in the last five years, but Northern Ireland dominates the wider UK rankings. Price growth in Bradford has totalled 131% over the past five years, compared with the 188% increase seen in Armargh in Northern Ireland. In addition, the three other cities in Northern Ireland of Newry, Lisburn and Londonderry make up the top four in the list, with Bradford sitting in fifth. “Many cities have benefited from urban regeneration programmes that have seen the wide scale redevelopment of old industrial areas and canal side warehouses into residential properties,” said Halifax chief economist Martin 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.”