Where are you buying?
Written for buyers, not for search engines. Where the housing stock is, what kinds of buyers each area attracts, and what to watch for on the mortgage side.
Belfast
Belfast's housing market is really five markets. South Belfast (Malone, Stranmillis, the Lisburn Road) has the city's most expensive family homes and a dense student rental market around Queen's, which means HMO licensing and lenders who are comfortable with student lets. East Belfast (Ballyhackamore, Belmont, Cregagh, Sydenham) is popular with families and first-time buyers for its terraces and semis, and its new-build developments off the Newtownards and Comber roads. North Belfast has some of the most affordable terraced housing in the city, attracting first-time buyers and landlords, alongside larger period houses on the Antrim Road and Cavehill. West Belfast is similar in stock and price, with new developments at Lagmore and along the Stewartstown Road. The city centre and Titanic Quarter are mostly apartments, which brings leasehold, service charges and, for some blocks, cladding paperwork that lenders will want to see.
Across the city, watch for non-standard construction in some post-war estates, and for terraces with unusual layouts that valuers flag. Neither is a barrier, but both narrow the lender list.
Lisburn
Commuter city on the M1 with a wide range of new-build developments and established estates. Popular with families and home movers trading up from Belfast.
Lisburn guideBangor
North Down's largest town, with seafront period houses, 1960s and 70s estates, and a steady flow of first-time buyers and downsizers.
Bangor guideNewtownards
Ards' market town, more affordable than Bangor or Holywood, with newer developments on the edges and rural sites out the Peninsula.
Newtownards guideHolywood
Small, expensive and in demand. Period homes and Belfast Lough views, with prices that make the loan-to-value and stamp duty sums matter.
Holywood guideReady to talk to a broker who knows Northern Ireland?
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