House buyers in Dublin are spending up to 25 per cent more for homes on the south side of the Liffey compared with the north side.

Property platform Perfect Property said its analysis of the sale figures showed the average house in south Dublin was €459,229, with north Dublin homes commanding an average of €343,177.

In south Dublin, Dalkey recorded the largest number of expensive sales, with 39 per cent of properties going for more than €1 million, and 90 per cent over €500,000. It also had the highest average property price at €1.24 million, followed by Ballsbridge at €1.1 million.

In north Dublin, the most expensive area is Clontarf, with average price of €686,000. Only 9 per cent of properties were sold for more than €1 million, while 71 per cent sold for over €500,000.

"Analysing available data for actual property sales, provides a much more realistic insight into the market than just looking at listing price data," said Laura Pollard, managing director at Perfect Property. "Data based on listing prices, while helpful, is not wholly accurate when you consider that the end sale price can fluctuate quite substantially above or below that initial asking price."

Average budget

The results may be troubling for first-time buyers, who have an average budget of about €315,000 for their home. But the analysis did pick out some of the more affordable areas of Dublin, with Finglas showing an average property price of €215,000 and Clondalkin properties selling for an average of €233,000.

Meanwhile, Initiative Ireland launched a peer-to-peer loan of €2.75 million that will fund the construction of 27 new family homes in Rush, Co Dublin. The initiative allows the financial services company's clients to lend as part of a syndicate, in return for a share of the issued loan and interest income.