Off the wire
• Xi promises better life for all minorities  • Slovakia unveils logo for EU presidency  • UAE says Belt and Road initiative vital for bilateral economic ties  • Egypt's army kills 85 militants in security campaign in restive Sinai  • Zimbabwe's Mugabe raps against factionism again as thousands supporters congregate  • Iraqi forces tighten siege around IS stronghold in Fallujah  • Roundup: Palestinians slam appointing Lieberman as Israeli defense minister  • NATO to move iconic "NATO star" to new headquarters  • All-Chinese pairs through to last 32 at Roland Garros  • Jordan keen to boost all-round ties with China  
You are here: 　 Home

Ireland's property prices see annual increase of 7.1 pct in April

Xinhua, May 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

Ireland's residential property prices saw an annual increase of 7.1 percent in April, according to official figures on Wednesday.

The figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed that in Dublin residential property prices increased by 1.6 percent in April and were 4.6 percent higher than a year ago.

Dublin house prices increased by 1.9 percent in the month and were 5 percent higher compared to a year earlier. Dublin apartment prices were 1.1 percent higher when compared with the same month of 2015.

The price of residential properties in the rest of Ireland decreased by 0.6 percent in April compared with an increase of 0.3 percent in April of last year. On a yearly basis, residential property prices outside of Dublin were up 9.5 percent in April.

The price of residential properties in the rest of Ireland is 35.8 percent lower than their highest level in September 2007. Overall, the national index is 33.3 percent lower than its highest level in 2007.

Alan McQuaid, chief economist with the Dublin-headquartered Merrion Stockbrokers, said a lack of supply of houses has clearly pushed up prices, particularly in the Dublin area in the past three years.

"It is not something that can be rectified overnight. Until this issue is addressed, prices in the capital and its outskirts will likely remain elevated," he said.

However, the Irish economist said tighter mortgage lending restrictions imposed by the Central Bank are helping to contain house prices to some degree, and will continue to have an impact going forward.

Based on the CSO figures, there was an average increase in house prices of 12.9 percent in 2014 and 10.6 percent in 2015.

"As a result of these latest numbers, we are now looking for a more modest increase of 6.0-6.5 percent in 2016," he added.

Irish real estate sector has been seriously affected by the burst of the bubble. The bubble was an extreme increase in the price of real estate from the late 1990s to 2007 in a period known as the Celtic Tiger. The fall in domestic and commercial property prices contributed to the Irish banking crisis. Enditem