Property prices in Ireland fall month on month for first time since January

Residential property prices in Ireland fell by 0.1% in June, the first monthly fall since January, but are still 6.6% higher than a year ago, according to the latest official figures to be published.

This compares to a 0.2% rise in May with the data showing that price growth has slowed considerably from the 10.7% annual rise recorded in June 2015.

The figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) also show that in Dublin property prices decreased by 0.7% in June and were 4.5% higher than a year ago.  House prices decreased by 1% but are still 5% higher compared to a year earlier while apartment prices were 0.5% lower when compared with the same month of 2015.

However, the CSO points out that it should be noted that the sub-indices for apartments are based on low volumes of observed transactions and consequently suffer from greater volatility than other series.

The price of properties in the rest of Ireland increased by 0.5% in June compared with an increase of 0.4% in June of last year and were 8.6% higher than in June 2015.

It means that house prices in Dublin are 33.5% lower than at their highest level in early 2007 while apartment prices in Dublin are 41.8% lower than they were in February 2007. 

Overall property prices in Dublin are 35.6% lower than at their highest level in February 2007. The price of properties in the rest of Ireland is 35.4% lower than their highest level in September 2007 and the national index is 33.3% lower than its highest level in 2007.

The CSO will launch a new Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) for Ireland in early September 2016 which will replace the existing monthly RPPI.

‘The new RPPI will be based on Stamp Duty returns made to the Revenue Commissioners matched with other administrative data. It will now cover all market purchases of houses and apartments by households, both cash and mortgage based transactions,’ said a CSO spokesman.

‘The new RPPI represents a significant methodological improvement over the existing RPPI based on mortgage data from the credit institutions as it includes cash purchases, higher quality source data and more detailed locational characteristics in the price model,’ he added.