It has nothing to do with the supposed peace dividend, it had to do with the planning system collapsing and house supply not keeping up with demand. Why is everything attributed to a peace dividend?

Ian, Belfast,

Bit late, Times - the boom is ending already

neil, portadown, armagh

Much has been made of the peace dividend influence on local house prices and ROI investors buying in recent years. Northern Ireland is a low pay economy with wages up to 20% below the national average and with house prices now more than ten times average NI earnings, the relentless rise is not only unsustainable but is beginning to resemble a type of grotesque pyramid scheme. With first time buyers priced out of the market we have a problem - Will the bubble burst or slowly deflate? Its anybodys guess.

Ron, Coleraine,

Funny to see how there is always an explanation to house prices... but not the simplest one: mispricing!
High levels of immigration, divorce rates, student population are claimed to be root cause of high prices in London (... not foolishness of the buyers maybe??) BUT IN ULSTER... please be realistic its a bubble!!! nothing to do with the French Revolution!

Michele, Richmond,

All this property growth and soaring prices are great if you own your own house. If you are a young person/first time buyer trying to get your foot on the ladder you have zero chance. The "cheapest" propertys are all snapped up by investors and property developers looking to make more money. I hope the bubble bursts and they loose millions. :-)

Patrick, Newry,

This an interesting development. In UK terms there is no reason why NI property prices should be so high. Wages are still a bit lower than SE of England etc. The reason seems to be linked to attitudes to property ownership. In the Republic property prices have been very high relative to British ones since the 70's. This has largely been because of demand, partly a young population but also very high rates of home ownership. The reason why so few Irish historically want to rent is probably connected to land reform agitation in the late 19th century and the strugle Irish rural dwellers fought to get the right to buy the land they farmed from aristocratic land lords. In effect this produced a society in which the bulk of the population was land owning, a sort of universal peasant middle class. This has fed through to the modern housing market. It is interesting however that in this important social indicator Northern Ireland seems much more to mirror developments in the south than the UK.

James McSparron, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland

What to Chelsea and Belfast not have in common? Firstly Belfast does not have the same high earnings but basks in higher debt levels and an inept planning structure which helps drive the high cost of housing.

simon thompson, saintfield, down

What to Chelsea and Belfast not have in common? Firstly Belfast does not have the same high earnings but basks in higher debt levels and an inpet planning structure which helps drive the high cost of housing.

simon thompson, saintfield, down