Property prices in Ireland up almost 15% in last year

Residential property prices in Ireland have increased by almost 15% in the last 12 months, according to the latest data from the Office of National Statistics.

In the year to August, residential property prices at a national level, increased by 14.9%, up from 13.4% in July and an increase of 2.8% recorded in the 12 months to August 2013.

Residential property prices rose by 2.3% in the month of August. This compares with an increase of 2% recorded in July and an increase of 0.9% recorded in August of last year.

A breakdown of the figures shows that in Dublin residential property prices grew by 3.5% in August and were 25.1% higher than a year ago.

Dublin house prices rose by 3.5% in the month and were 24.7% higher compared to a year earlier while apartment prices were 32.6% higher when compared with the same month of 2013.
However, and ONS spokesman 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.

The price of residential properties in the rest of Ireland rose by 0.8% in August compared with an increase of 0.1% in August of last year. Prices were 5.6% higher than in August 2013.

House prices in Dublin are now 39.2% lower than at their highest level in early 2007 and apartments in Dublin are 45.8% lower than they were in February 2007.

A separate report by Myhome.ie says the average asking price for a home increased by 1.4% nationwide over the last quarter while in Dublin it rose 3%, taking the average asking price to ?193,000.

It is the sixth quarter in a row that Dublin has recorded an increase and puts the mix adjusted average asking price in the capital at ?263,000, up ?8,000 in three months. The annual percentage change for Dublin is 9.6%.

Caroline Kelleher from DKM Economic Consultants and author of the report said that a supply problem in Dublin is continuing to drive price increases. ‘There were only 500 completions in the capital in the first quarter and given that the Housing Agency has forecast a requirement of 5,700 units in Dublin alone this year it is clear the current rate of completions falls significantly short. As a result our expectation is that prices will continue to rise over the coming months,’ she explained.
The report also highlights a growing value gap between Dublin and elsewhere in the country with a semi-detached house in Cork some 66% cheaper than in Dublin.

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