Commuter counties lead house price falls

House prices have dropped by 1.3 per cent nationally over the first four months of the year with commuter counties showing the sharpest falls, according to the latest permanent tsb/ESRI House Price Index.

Its report released today found that while house prices in Dublin have been largely flat - growing just 0.6 per cent over the first four months, outside the capital they have fallen by 1.5 per cent, 1.3 per cent of which occurred in April alone.

The sharpest falls were in the commuter counties of Louth, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow where prices fell by 1.8 per cent in April, adding to the 0.8 per cent price fall in March. During the first four months of the year house prices in these areas have fallen 3.6 per cent.

As a result the average house price in these regions has dropped from €344,186 in December 2007 to €331,937 in April 2007

Nationally, the average price paid for house in April was €306,619, down from the €310,632 paid in December 2006.

Permanent tsb's head of marketing Niall O'Grady said: "The reduction in average national house prices in April has been reflected in all market sectors with the exception of Dublin and new houses, which have shown little or no growth."

"So far this year prices in Dublin's commuter counties have experienced the greatest rate of reduction, while Dublin prices have remained relatively stable."

The average price paid for a house in Dublin in April was €429,754 and outside Dublin the average price was €262,333. The equivalent prices in December 2006 was €427,343 and €266,339.

Over the 12 months to April house prices in Dublin grew by 10.6 per cent. Outside of Dublin prices for a house grew by just 4.1 per cent over the past 12 months.

The tsb/ESRI report has good news for first-time buyers as it indicates that houses prices in this bracket have fallen by 0.8 per cent last month.

The average price paid by a first-time buyer in April was €277,617, while someone purchasing their second home was paying €43,670.

Prices for new properties were flat in April at €304,161 while second-hand houses saw their value fall 0.8 per cent to an average of €307,763. For the first four months of the year the equivalent figures are was +0.5 per cent and -1.6 per cent.