Hi °C | Lo °C Mark Graham, (27) bought a two-bedroom terrace house in the Donegall Road area of Belfast in January for £170,000. Current value (estimate): £185,000.
Mark is the epitome of Northern Ireland's new breed of first-time buyer.
Born in Belfast, he returned to Ulster in 2006 after three years working in Japan - even there he had heard of the province's property price boom.
He lived at his parents' south Belfast home for six months before getting the keys to his first home - a two-bedroom terrace in Lecale Street, off the Donegall Road in January this year.
He teamed up with a friend, Paul Mannus to get a mortgage for the £170,000 property. Mark admits news about dropping house prices is "worrying".
"I think my view is to look to the long term," he says. "You don't buy a house as your primary residence and think it is all about profit. Houses go up in value over the long term. Maybe my house has gone down in value over six months, but I take a five-year view, at least."
The 'location, location' mantra has worked for Mark in terms of choosing the Donegall Road.
"We chose this area because it is near the hospital and Belfast city centre which means houses here have good rental values," he added.
"There is also wasteland near to us which is due to be redeveloped. We are also near the West Link. "We bought here for all these reasons."
He believes this combination will help maintain healthy house prices in the area.
" I'm glad we bought where we did, when you look at some areas in the suburbs or outside Belfast where prices have dropped.
"You can't help but think and be a bit worried. I think, 'should I have bought my house last year?' But you can't think in the short term like that."
