House Prices...

Did you know that in Northern Ireland in the last ten years the average house price has increased from 66,000 to 189,000? Thats nearly a 200% increase in that time and now first time buyers and single people make up the smallest proportion of house buyers in the region.

I mean, who needs an apartment in belfast's Annadale Embankment so much that they are willing to almost literally sign a blank cheque for it? Well, apparently a lot of people. So many people in fact, that the most recent block of apartments and town houses went, and some are still going for, over 300K a pop. Now thats a lot for a two bed apartment, considering my family's home is a five bed two reception and its worth less than that by some way.

In Magheralin, where I live, the house prices would suggest we are living in some kind of bubble, where apartments (yes, in the VILLAGE of magheralin) are now in the region of £200,000 and this is percieved as GOOD value. Say what? Good value? Good value would be me paying each buyer £5.00 to let me punch them in the face and tell them how stupid they are, 200K for an aprartment in Maralin isn't good value AT ALL. In fact, I'd struggle to find ANY apartment in Northern Ireland which would have a "Good Value" label attached to it for 200K!

It really will be almost impossible for people my age and younger to buy their own houses in this country very soon, and even the ones that do now are borrowing HUGE mortgages in order to do so. For example, say I'm earning 30K a year by 25, now thats a decent salary. But a bank will only lend me 3 times that. That means I can afford to buy, with a deposit of 10K, a 100K house. Hang on, the average house price is already twice that? So what can I do to get a house? Take out a 50year mortgage and end up paying around 400K for a small home that should have cost 150K? I dread to think how much houses will actually cost when I'm trying to buy one, but it does not look good.

For any of us.