IT'S boom time for Bury homeowners after a national survey showed house prices had shot through the roof.

The town emerges as 38th in a league of areas rated on their relative increase in house values over the last 15 years.

Figures compiled by the Halifax show that the average 1988 house price in Bury was £34,017, compared with £98,521 today.

That represents an increase of 188 per cent, set against just 40 per cent at the bottom of the table and 300 per cent at the top.

Areas where estate agents have seen the greatest boom in customer interest include Ramsbottom, Woolfold, Walshaw and Tottington.

Holcombe Brook and Greenmount remain, as they were, the most sought after districts.

The 1988 price for a typical two bedroom terraced house in Elton was £15,000, compared with £40,000 in 2002.

Between those years the cost of a four bedroom detached in Brandlesholme soared from £46,500 to £175,000.

Less improvement was seen in the values for a three bedroom semi-detached in Holcombe Brook, which went up from £56,000 to £100,000.

Estate agents Wright, Dickson and Catlow attribute the healthy increases to a high proportion of good quality housing, sound transport links and easy access to countryside.

Ian Parr, partner in the firm, said: "Bury has a lot of pleasant and good quality housing estates and individual properties.

"It is convenient from the point of view of the motorway network and also has the Metrolink system.

"Added to this, the north of the borough borders on countryside, so you can have the best of both worlds.

"There are also a lot of professional and executive people living here and the old industrial image of the area has changed as new types of employer move in."

But he added: "The types of increases seen here are applicable in the better quality areas but not across the board. There are pockets where values have depreciated."