What you'll find
Seafront houses and apartments along the promenade, older town houses and terraces, family estates on the edges of town, and larger homes and cottages on the lower slopes of the Mournes and towards Dundrum and Castlewellan.
Who buys here
Local families, people who want to live near the mountains and the sea, buyers looking for a holiday home, and people retiring to the coast.
Getting about
There's no railway. Belfast is around an hour by road via Ballynahinch, and Downpatrick and Newry are each around half an hour away.
Mortgage points to note
- Second homes. If you already own a home, buying here adds the 5% additional-property surcharge to your stamp duty. Work out the figure first.
- Holiday lets. Letting to visitors needs a holiday-let mortgage. Lenders base it on seasonal income, and some ask for evidence of rental demand.
- Later-life borrowing. If the mortgage would run past retirement, lenders look closely at pension income. Retirement interest-only loans are one option.
- Seafront apartments. Leases, service charges and repairs to exposed buildings all affect what a lender will offer.
Nearby
See also Downpatrick, Ballynahinch and Kilkeel.
Ready to talk to a broker who knows Northern Ireland?
Two minutes of questions. No fee. A broker calls you back, usually within one working day.
Get matched with a broker