HOUSE PRICES nationally have fallen by up to 45 per cent since their peak in 2006, with a drop of more than 3 per cent in the third quarter of this year, three new property reports suggest.
Websites Myhome.ie and Daft.ie, and property group Sherry FitzGerald all publish their latest analyses of house prices for the third quarter today. All three reports showed the same broad trend.
Myhome.ie said property prices fell 3.9 per cent in the third quarter, bringing the fall for the year to date to 11 per cent.
The group, which is owned by The Irish Times, said the average asking price for a home nationally was now €280,000, compared with €291,000 three months ago and €323,000 12 months ago.
The website said asking prices in Dublin fell by 4.3 per cent in the period, bringing the total fall over the last 12 months to just under 16 per cent. The average asking price for a house in Dublin now stands at €325,000, down from €340,000 in the second quarter and €386,000 12 months ago.
Jean Goggin of DKM Economic Consultants, who produced the report, said any pick-up will require an improvement in the labour market and the economy generally.
“Last year, the overall decline was 14.5 per cent and, so far this year, the annual decline in 13 per cent. While this suggests some improvement . . . it is clear that we have not yet reached the bottom of the market,” she said.
Publishing its report, Daft.ie said that, as of September, asking prices had fallen by 37 per cent from their peak. In the last three months asking prices for residential property around the State fell by an average of 3.7 per cent.
Daft.ie said prices in Dublin fell by 3.3 per cent during the period, while in Cork and Waterford they dropped by about 1.5 per cent. In Galway and Limerick, prices were largely static during the summer.
Outside the main cities, asking prices fell by an average of 4.3 per cent. The largest falls were seen in Longford, Kilkenny and Monaghan, with asking prices down by as much as 10 per cent in three months.
Daft.ie economist Ronan Lyons said the key driver of house prices at the moment was the mismatch of supply and demand. Total stock on the market had been close to 60,000 for more than two years.
Publishing its own property index, Sherry FitzGerald said the average price of a second-hand property in Dublin fell by 2 per cent in the third quarter, reflecting a continued moderation in the pace of deflation during the year. It brings the total drop in Dublin prices in the 12 months to the end of September to 11.1 per cent.
Comparable figures for the national market saw the average price of a second-hand house fall by 2.7 per cent in the third quarter.
This brings the total drop in national prices to 11.9 per cent during the 12 months to September, Sherry FitzGerald said.
