BRISTOL is on the verge of a property boom which will see house prices in the city and surrounding area rocket by 24 per cent over the next five years.
The prediction has come from JLL, one of the leading property firms in Bristol in a report on the state of the property market across the UK.
And the findings have been published at the same time as an in depth review into the state of the economy in the city has been carried out by the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership.
According to JLL, which has its main South West offices in Clifton, the Bristol region will be second only to London and South East when it comes to predicted increases in property prices.
A spokesman for JLL said: "The UK housing marketing is entering a new phase. It has been through a boom, a bust and a recovery cycle, and as we head into 2015 and a year that will see the formation of a new Government, we are now entering a more stable, yet still challenging era."
Paddy Sykes, director of JLL's South West residential team, said: "The UK is facing a housing crisis and the South West – with its high employment rates, excellent quality of life, and rapidly growing strengths in a range of sectors, is becoming a victim of its own success. The continuing growth and strength of the student housing market in this region is also a significant factor.
"With prices rising here at a rate second only to London and the South East, housing is in ever greater demand whilst supply remains worryingly slow to come through.
"A creative and rational approach to house building is required at all levels in order to ensure the region continues to maximise its economic potential."
JLL's new Residential Market Review was published this week and it is predicting that South West house prices will rise by four per cent in 2015 and 24 per cent over the next five years.
The predicted increase is second only to London and the South East and faster than the UK average.
Bristol, alongside Birmingham and Manchester, has been highlighted as a regional "out-performer" when it comes to property prices.
Meanwhile a report has been put together by the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership on the state of the economy. The organisation covers Bristol and the three neighbouring local authorities and covers the last three months.
According to the report the economy in the region is expected to grow by three per cent in 2014.
Bristol has one of the strongest economies of all the regional cities and also has higher levels of employment and personal wealth.
In the three months to then end of September there were 30,896 jobs advertised online for posts in the West of England area.
The top occupation advertised was for programmers and software development professionals with a total of 1,470 job adverts posted between the 1st July and 30th September.
This was followed by IT business analysts, architects and systems designers with 1,192 job adverts, and nurses with 907 adverts.