Property prices continue decline

Irish house prices continued to fall last month with the rate of decline actually increasing when compared with 12 months ago…

Irish house prices continued to fall last month with the rate of decline actually increasing when compared with 12 months ago.

The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) indicate that prices dropped 1.5 per cent in September and they show the decline since the beginning of the year now standing at 14.3 per cent.

The monthly fall compares to a decline of 1.6 per cent in August and a nationwide fall of 11.1 per cent since the end of September last year.

The comprehensive index, which was first published by the CSO earlier this year, gives detailed data by type of property (house/apartment) and by geography (Dublin/non-Dublin).

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Once again the data shows that residential property prices in the capital have suffered more than those outside Dublin and that apartment prices have fallen by more than those of houses. Both trends continued last month.

In Dublin residential property prices fell by 2.1 per cent last month and prices in the capital are now 15.6 per cent lower than they were a year ago.

House prices in Dublin fell by 1.7 per cent in September and are now 15.3 per cent lower than they were a year earlier but apartment prices were even harder hit and fell by a 4.8 per cent which takes the annual decline to 19.3 per cent.

The price of residential properties elsewhere in the State fell by 1 per cent in September which means that prices are now 13.2 per cent lower than 12 months ago.

Looking at the broader picture, house prices in Dublin are now house prices are now 49 per cent lower than at their highest level in early 2007 while apartments in Dublin have fallen by 59 per cent since February 2007. The fall in the price of residential properties across the rest of the State is 40 per cent.

Conor Pope

Conor Pope

Conor Pope is Consumer Affairs Correspondent, Pricewatch Editor