Towns in Northern Ireland see huge price rises

Seven towns from the region lead Halifax's quarterly house price inflation index. They are: Craigavon, Londonderry, Ballymena, Lisburn and Belfast, in addition to Newry and Antrim. It is the first time towns in Northern Ireland have featured so prominently among the top ten with the three remaining towns comprising two in Scotland – Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, Oban in Argyll and one in the North West – Nelson. Newry and Antrim are at the top of the list with both recording a 46% rise in prices over the past year. Average prices in Newry are up from £123,334 in the third quarter of 2005 to...