House price rises slow as supply increases

The supply of new homes in the State reached record levels in 1999 and is set to continue to grow, while the rise in house prices has continued to moderate, according to the official Housing Statistics Bulletin for 1999, released yesterday.

The bulletin, from the Department of the Environment, revealed that a record 46,512 homes we rebuilt in 1999 - a rise of almost 10 per cent on 1998, which itself was a record year.

Prices peaked at 26 per cent for new houses in the first quarter of 1998, and 37 per cent for second-hand houses in the third quarter of that year. The average increase in new house prices was 4.4 per cent across the State, and 4.0 per cent in Dublin, in the three months to December 1999. The average rises in second-hand prices were 3.9 per cent and 5.7 per cent respectively.

The average cost of a new home outside Dublin in 1999 was £99,600, while a secondhand home averaged £102,700. In Dublin the average cost of a new home in 1999 was £126,400, and of a second-hand home, £130,000.