The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office also show that the annual rate of decline was 16.7% in December, higher than November’s 15.6%.
In Dublin residential property prices fell by 2.4% in December and were 19.3% lower than a year ago.
Dublin house prices decreased by 3% in the month and were 19.9% lower compared to a year earlier. Dublin apartment prices were15.6% lower when compared with the same month of 2010.
The price of residential properties in the rest of Ireland fell by 1.1% in December compared with a decline of 0.5% in the same month of last year. Prices were 15.1% lower than in December 2010.
House prices in Dublin are now 54% lower than at their highest level in early 2007. Apartments in Dublin are 58% lower than they were in February 2007.
Residential property prices in Dublin are 55% lower than at their highest level in February 2007. The fall in the price of residential properties in the rest of Ireland is somewhat lower at 43%. Overall, the national index is 47% lower than its highest level in 2007.
‘With low transactions, constrained mortgage lending and an uncertain economic environment, house prices are likely to continue falling in 2012,’ said Conall Mac Coille, chief economist at Davy Stockbrokers in Dublin.
In stress tests on the Irish banking sector early last year, the central bank assumed a 55% peak to trough fall in residential property prices between 2007 and 2013 and a 62% drop in its adverse scenario.
Mac Coille said prices may well reach that 55% level before bouncing back, but noted that foreclosures appear much lower than the stress tests assumed, giving banks some leeway.
