Government measures aimed at calming the housing market have yet to take effect, with the latest house price statistics showing a further strong rise.

The Irish Permanent House Price Index shows that house prices nationally have risen by a further 4.2 per cent between May and June last. This brings the rate of growth in the first six months of 1998 to 15.6 per cent, or almost double the increase during the same period last year.

Commenting on the latest trend, Irish Permanent's head of marketing, Ms Barbara Patton, said the index has failed to pick up any sign of house prices stabilising in the aftermath of the Bacon Report.

"Anecdotal evidence would also suggest that, while the residential investment market has slowed down, this is not affecting house prices, which are continuing to rise," she said. House prices again continued to grow more strongly in Dublin than in the rest of the Republic, increasing by 6 per cent in June, compared with a 3.2 per cent rise outside Dublin between May and June. Over the six months to the end of June, house prices in Dublin rose by 21.6 per cent, compared with a 12.3 per cent rise elsewhere. In the Republic, the price of both new and second-hand houses continued to move ahead. The price of new houses increased by 2.9 per cent between May and June, bringing an overall increase of 11.4 per cent since the beginning of the year.

Average prices in the secondhand house market rose by 4.8 per cent and by 18.5 per cent between January and June last. The index was commissioned by Irish Permanent and compiled by the Economic and Social Research Institute.