NEW house prices were, 7.4 per cent higher on average last year, while second hand house prices rose by 6.2 per cent, according to the Department of the Environment.

The average price of a new house was £61,527 in 1995 compared with £57,281 in 1994, according to the Housing Statistics Bulletin published yesterday.

The rise in new house prices was strongest in Galway where the average price rose by 14 per cent last year to £69,468. In Dublin, the 6.3 per cent increase in new house prices to £68,613 was below the national average. In Waterford, the average price of new houses was barely changed from 1994 levels at £54,799. The Department figures are based on loan approvals by the financial institutions.

The figures showed that new house prices rose strongly in the final quarter of 1995. The average price of a new house was £63,495 in the final quarter, up from £61,000 in the third quarter.

The rise in second hand house prices was strongest in Galway where prices rose by 13 per cent to an average of £61,580. Cork followed with a 9.1 per cent increase to £54,893. A 7.4 per cent increase was reported for Dublin to £69,989 with a similar percentage increase in Waterford to £46,813. Prices increased in the final quarter of 1995 in most areas but in Limerick, where the annual increase was just over 3 per cent, prices were flat.

The largest category of loan approvals was for loans of £35,001 to £45,000 which accounted for 22.7 per cent of all loans. Some 17.6 per cent of loans were for amounts exceeding £55,000. More borrowers opted for variable rate mortgages in 1995 - 55.7 per cent - with 44.3 per cent taking fixed rate loans.

In 1995, the building societies share of the mortgage market fell to 32.4 per cent from 54.4 per cent in 1994. The banks and other lenders increased their share to 67.2 per cent from 45 per cent. But the figures are complicated by the transfer in 1995 of lending by Irish Permanent from the building society category into the bank category. The share of bank lenders increased throughout the year rising to 69.9 per cent in the final quarter.

Some 36.5 per cent of mortgage borrowers were married for more than five years while 28.8 per cent were single.