Hi, I am from Belfast and moved to the south for a better paid job (although the house prices were shock here).
Yes the problem is the high number of UK and Irish investors buying up property in the north causing some house prices to jump by almost 45%.
I moved out of a rented house in Belfast 2 years ago and it was on the market for STG 100k. I checked the property and it is now worth 190k. The rental prices are exactly the same, so your return now will be a lot less that it was 2 years ago.
With the peace deal looking like it is finally going to go ahead, the house prices should increase at a more normal rate, but ONLY if a lot of inward investment happens, otherwise the house prices will go in reverse. i wouldn't say a crash will happen because of all the potential property investors from UK and Ireland looking at Belfast as it is still improving and has loads of potential to improve on a very large scale. It is small city after all. The new Titanic Quarter promises loads of housing and jobs, but this is like the Port Tunnel or the M3 or Dublin to Navan railway. promise loads but will it be deliver or even deliver the expected returns...
Only time will tell...
Even rundown houses in Belfast are fetching stupid prices, just because the demand far outweighs the supply. Buying a house to rent seems like a bad investment right now in Belfast, esp with all the empty houses about. I think I would be looking at Manchester or Liverpool as there is a lot of investment there at the moment…
Hope this helps…