House price growth in Northern Ireland is the fastest since records began in 1973 with an average house price now exceeding £200,000, according to the latest quarterly review of house prices published by Nationwide. The first quarter of 2007 also saw the fastest house price growth in London for almost four years and prices in the South of England increased twice as fast as those in the North.
The UK average house price is now £175,554, up by 9.5% over the past year. Belfast house prices have gone up by 61% in the last twelve months and the average price is now £262,965. Commenting on the figures Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said: "Prices increased in every part of the UK in the last 12 months, but the rate at which they rose was quite different across the country. Northern Ireland and London stand out as the leaders with the fastest annual rates of house price growth in the UK. In contrast, the Northern and North West regions and Wales saw the biggest slowdown in the annual rate of house price growth. Overall, the annual rate of house price growth in the UK is firm, but the quarterly data suggest that the underlying rate of growth is now starting to cool. During the first three months of the year the rate of house price inflation slowed from 3.3% to 2.2%. However, London and Northern Ireland bucked this softening trend with house prices increasing by 4.4% and 14.6% respectively during the first quarter."
London was the only part of England where house price inflation picked up during the first three months of the year. Prices increased by 4.4% during the quarter, bringing the annual rate of growth up to 14.3%. This is the fastest annual rate of growth in the capital for almost four years. Scotland maintained its strong performance in the first quarter but the rate of growth is showing signs of cooling. Prices increased by 15.2%, the second fastest rate of growth in the UK, and the fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. However, the rate of growth during the quarter cooled sharply to 2.7% down from 3.7% in the last quarter of 2006. Despite the robust growth over the last year, Scotland is still the second cheapest place in the UK with a typical house price of £140,929.
