Irish property market records first annual price rise in five years

Property prices in Ireland have recorded an annual increase for the first time since the market crashed in 2008.

Irish Housing

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

According to the country’s Central Statistics Office, residential house prices grew by 1.2 per cent in the year to June – the first recorded yearly increase since January 2008.

The country’s capital, Dublin, was largely responsible for the jump in house values, with house prices there now 4.2 per cent higher than they were a year ago. Average prices in the capital are now more than 5 per cent higher than their post-crash low point recorded in August of last year, although prices in the rest of the country are only marginally above their lowest point, which has hit in March of this year.

On a monthly basis, property prices across the country also rose by an average of 1.2 per cent between May and June, the third consecutive month that property prices in the country have increased. Again Dublin was responsible for much of this monthly price growth. The rise in prices in the capital between May and June was 1.7 per cent, while in the rest of the country, the rise was less than half that, at 0.7 per cent

Since the market crashed five years ago, house prices in Ireland have fallen by around 50 per cent – a statistic that has left thousands upon thousands of Irish homeowners in negative equity.

However, according to some economists in the country, the latest house price data is a clear sign that the country’s economy is finally starting to improve and the country is expected to exit its EU-IMF bailout by the end of this year.