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Belfast trails behind most UK cities for house price growth says Hometrack study

Belfast is near the bottom of the UK table for house price growth according to Hometrack
Belfast is near the bottom of the UK table for house price growth according to Hometrack Belfast is near the bottom of the UK table for house price growth according to Hometrack

HOUSE price growth in Belfast is trailing behind virtually ever major city in the UK apart from Cambridge and Aberdeen, the latest index from property analysts Hometrack shows.

Year-on-year house price growth, at just 2.8 per cent, puts Belfast in the bottom three of a the table according to the findings.

The index, which monitors house prices across the UK's 20 biggest cities, found Bristol remains the city with the strongest house price growth, with an annual increase of 9.5 per cent in January.

Oxford has the next fastest growth, with a 9.2 per cent annual house price rise. Manchester, where property values have increased by 8.3 per cent year-on-year, is in third place.

London was placed eighth, behind cities including Southampton and Bournemouth.

Aberdeen is the only city on the list where house prices have fallen over the last year, recording a 3.7 per cent decline.

Hometrack said house prices in London, at £486,600 on average, are now 85 per cent higher than they were in 2009. Other major cities, which have not experienced such fast house price growth over this period, are continuing to see prices heading robustly upwards.

Richard Donnell, insight director at Hometrack, said future house price growth will depend upon the outlook for jobs, incomes and mortgage rates.

Here are average house prices in January across the major UK cities in Hometrack's research, followed by the year-on-year increase in prices:

:: Bristol, £263,200, 9.5 per cent

:: Oxford, £430,200, 9.2 per cent

:: Manchester, £150,600, 8.3 per cent

:: Southampton, £223,200, 8 per cent

:: Birmingham, £147,400, 7.4 per cent

:: Liverpool, £116,200, 7.1 per cent

:: Bournemouth, £275,600, 6.6 per cent

:: London, £486,600, 6.4 per cent

:: Portsmouth, £221,100, 6.4 per cent

:: Leicester, £160,500, 6 per cent

:: Glasgow, £115,200, 5.7 per cent

:: Leeds, £154,700, 5.5 per cent

:: Nottingham, £140,300, 5.4 per cent

:: Cardiff, £192,900, 5 per cent

:: Sheffield, £128,500, 4 per cent

:: Edinburgh, £200,700, 3.7 per cent

:: Newcastle, £123,900, 3.5 per cent

:: Belfast, £126,100, 2.8 per cent

:: Cambridge, £418,100, 2.2 per cent

:: Aberdeen, £186,200, minus 3.7 per cent