Property prices in Dublin now 22% higher than a year ago

Property prices in Dublin are 22% higher than a year ago and are now growing at a faster rate than at any time since the height of the housing boom, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.

Meanwhile price across the country are up year on year to the end of May by 10.6%, higher than the annual 8.5% increase recorded in May, suggesting that the property market recovery is growing outside of the capital city. This compares to a fall of 1.1% recorded in the 12 months to the end of May 2013.

In Dublin prices were up 4.2% month on month. The price of residential properties in the rest of Ireland rose by 0.6% in May compared with an increase of 0.1% in May of last year. Prices were 1.8% higher than in May 2013.

In Dublin apartment prices were 19.5% higher in May when compared with the same month of 2013 but the CSO said that it should be noted that the sub-indices for apartments are based on low volumes of observed transactions and consequently suffer from greater volatility than other series.
House prices in Dublin are 44.4% lower than at their highest level in early 2007. Apartments in Dublin are 53.4% lower than they were in February 2007. But overall prices in Dublin are still 46.3% lower than at their highest level in February 2007.

The price of properties in the rest of Ireland is 47% lower than their highest level in September 2007 and overall, the national index is 45.1% lower than its highest level in 2007.
Experts do not believe there is a risk of a housing bubble. Conall Mac Coile, chief economist at Davy Stockbrokers pointed out that there is a low number of transactions and a low volume of building starts.

But he added that specific measures to boost sustainable housing starts are needed. Few houses are being built because many building firms were damaged or went out of business during the financial crisis.

Also, existing home owners are currently unwilling to sell. High levels of home loan debt, a legacy of the property bust, mean many households cannot contemplate selling for some time, analysts say.

http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/ireland-real-estate-prices-201407079325.html