BY ROBBIE SMYTH

House prices rise across the island

The 26-Counties is not the only region experiencing a housing boom, a 25% increase in average Six-County house prices in the 12 months to the end of March, shows that some of the negative effects of the Celtic Tiger are now impacting across the border.

Figures released by the Economic and Social Research Institute in Dublin showed that 26-County house prices are set to grow by 10% in 2006 and that the average price of a house is going to pass €300,000 in the coming months. The latest University of Ulster Quarterly House Price Index released in early June showed that the average price of a house in the north was £153,868, up £31,000 on the same period last year.

This week official British government figures for house prices in Northern Ireland and Britain registered a 16% increase in the 12 months to April 2006. In Britain the average cost of a house was £188,290 up 5.1% on the year, that's approximately €277,000.

The average price of a 26-County house was €291,678 and at £200,918 shows the still significant gap between house prices across the border and in Britain. The gap is larger when you compare the price of a house in Dublin to that in Belfast. In Dublin at the end of April the average dwelling cost €388,466 or £267,589.

In Belfast the average house price was £145,051, South Belfast the most expensive location in the city at a price of £188,069 is still significantly behind the average Dublin price.

Other Belfast prices were £165,432 in East Belfast, £113,052 in West Belfast with a £107,673 in the north of the city. The average price of a 3 bedroom semi detached house in the Six Counties was £139,726 compared to £200,285 in the 26 Counties.

The highest percentage price increase in the Six Counties came in Lisburn where prices were up 44% over 12 months compared to 14.4% in East Antrim, 30% in Derry and Strabane, 39% in Craigavon/Armagh, 30% in Mid and South Down, 29%in Fermanagh South Tyrone and 25.7% in Mid-Ulster. It seems that across the island the housing boom is set to continue.

House Price Data

• £153,868 - Six County house price 2006
• £200,918 - 26-County house price 2006
• £188,290 - British house price 2006
• £145,051 - Belfast house price
• £267,589 - Dublin house price
• £139,726 - Six-County three bed semi detached
• £200,285 - 26-County three bed semi detached