More often than not, buy-to-let investors talking Northern Ireland are in fact talking Belfast. Not that there aren't opportunities across the country as a whole, but in terms of healthy returns and blossoming property values, Belfast has earned a reputation among those in the know. Throughout 2014, house prices increased by an average of 4 per cent and rental transactions grew by 6.4 per cent. The private rentals sector has exploded by 128 per cent over the course of a decade, illustrating exactly why Belfast now has a firm place on the map among investor circles. Solid properties in key areas are known to drive home yields in the region of 6 per cent up to an enviable 9 per cent, while the sky's often the limit for short-term holiday lets.