Prices in Ireland's booming housing market rose 18.4 per cent in April from a year earlier but the rate of increase eased for the fourth consecutive month, the Irish Life & Permanent property index showed today.
"Overall the results show an encouraging trend towards an easing in the rate of growth of house prices in Ireland," said Irish Life & Permanent head of marketing Mr Niall O'Grady.
Irish Permanent's monthly house price index showed the rate of increase year on year in April fell from 19.1 per cent in March.
Prices rose 1.2 per cent month on month from March to April, compared to 1.3 per cent the previous month, and the average price paid by a first-time buyer in April was £125,566, compared to £104,052 a year ago.
"This is the fourth consecutive month where we had slowdown in rate of growth," Mr O'Grady said.
The long-terms signs are for continuation in the easing of the rate of growth.Irish Life, which sells almost one in five mortgages in Ireland, said a year-on-year increase of 17.6 per cent in April for houses outside of Dublin was the lowest since June 1998.
Housing prices in Ireland, especially in Dublin, have soared in recent years as a flourishing economy has fuelled a boom in consumer spending.