Northern Ireland property price watch

·The average price of a house in the province is £89,674, compared with a national average of £129,443. The annual rate of house-price inflation is 14.6 per cent, with the average at 21.9 per cent).

· Growth has been strongest in County Down, where prices have risen 22 per cent, and properties on the Dublin-Belfast corridor 'remain in demand', with Newry particularly favoured.

· Belfast and Bangor have seen a 'levelling off' of prices over the past year but 'first-time buyers have started to experience affordability difficulties in these areas', says Richard Sealey, area manager for Northern Ireland at Halifax Estate Agents. 'Prices have increased but it's nothing like the mainland, though a shortage of land has boosted the price of newly built properties and made them more expensive than second-hand homes. Prices have got beyond buyers in the Bangor, Newtownards, Glengormley and Anderstontown areas.'

· Prices are on the rise in Lisburn, which has just achieved city status. In Lurgan and Portadown new home building is up as both are commutable from Belfast. The most dramatic activity has been in the Craigavon area, where 'prices have gone up 10-15 per cent over the year', according to Tom McClelland, Northern Ireland spokesman for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.'Former local authority housing there now costs around £50,000-£55,000. Three or four years ago you'd have been hard-pressed to pay more than £25,000-£30,000 for it.' · Economic growth in the region is predicted to be just under 3 per cent this year, according to Andrew Burrell at Experian Business Strategies. 'Last year was very weak but there has been a bit of a turnaround in manufacturing output. Property valuations across the UK are a major issue because we've reached a point where houses have become unaffordable. But this is less of an issue in Northern Ireland, where prices are affected by other factors, such as the political situation. We don't expect any price falls in this region.' · The buy-to-let market has moved north out of Belfast, in search of more affordable prices. Portstewart, Portrush and Coleraine are all still popular, with rental incomes buoyed by the high proportion of students from the University of Mid-Ulster, according to mortgage lender UCB Home Loans.

Investors have also started to pour into this market in west Belfast, where a new university is planned.

Average price, 31/03/03

Down - £117,503
Armagh - £95,156
Antrim - £100,078
Tyrone - £80,548
Londonderry - £92,338

Source: Halifax

*Fermanagh's sample was too small to register, but the average price of property in the county in the first quarter of 2003 was £80,351