Growth in House Prices Grinds to a Halt

9th November 2006, Daft.ie Ireland's busiest property website, today released the Daft.ie report for Quarter 3 2006. The report shows that growth in house prices has come to a halt. Average asking prices for residential property did not increase between the 2nd and 3rd quarter of this year. Prices fell slightly over the summer months but recovered somewhat in September. Preliminary figures for October indicate slight growth but all signs point to a levelling off in prices.

While demand may have weakened, supply of houses on the market is at an all time high with more houses for sale advertised on Daft.ie in October than ever before. There are currently over 22,000 second hand houses for sale on Daft and nearly 15,000 new homes and apartment for sale. This is more than double the amount of properties for sale 3 months ago.

Although, there was zero growth in asking prices overall, there were significant geographic variations. Properties in South-East Leinster increased by approximately €50,000 over the last quarter. On the other hand asking prices for four-bed properties in South County Dublin have decreased by the same amount.

The report highlights the benefits of moving west. An owner of a 1 bed apartment in Dublin City Centre could move to a similar property in Galway City and in doing so earn up to €75,000 after having paid stamp duty.

Commenting on the report, Brian Fallon, Director, Daft.ie, said "As there are more properties listed on Daft than any other source we get the most up-to-date and accurate picture of the Irish property market. We are confident that over the next 3 months, as we continue to transition from a sellers market to a buyers market, houses prices will remain relatively static. The outlook for buyers is good as they will have more choice and a lower likelihood of getting caught in a bidding war."

According to Pat McArdle, Chief Economist, Ulster Bank, "The reason for the slowdown is straightforward." He attributes it to the recent European Central Bank interest rate hikes and the subsequent reduction in the purchasing power of buyers.

In relation to the recent trends McArdle added "The housing market should experience a soft, rather than a hard landing. A soft landing does not rule out a temporary fall in prices. A hard landing, on the other hand, would be associated with significant and sustained falls in prices." He warned that the way to avoid the latter was to ensure that supply be curtailed as demand eases.

A full copy of the report is available online at www.daft.ie/report and includes a full commentary from Pat McArdle.

For further information please contact:
Jennifer Mooney, Marketing Solutions,
053 26789, 087 833 6450

Notes to the Editor
Daft.ie is Ireland's biggest property website with the largest selection of residential property for sale in Ireland. It is also the primary online destination for commercial, overseas and residential property to let. Daft.ie was founded in 1997 as an efficient way of finding property and house mates online. In recent years Daft has expanded into all areas of the Irish property market and today has a thriving network of over 1,000 estate agents and over 40,000 landlords.

In May 2006, a report by ABC ELECTRONIC confirmed that Daft.ie was Ireland's busiest certified website with requests for over 27 million pages of information received (Page Impressions) in May 2006, ahead of other well-known sites including; RTE (22 million, May 06), Eircom (22 million, January 06) and MyHome.ie (18 million, October 05).

In 2005, Daft.ie customers applied for over €3 billion in mortgages. The company has won numerous awards for its innovative approach and strong customer focus. In 2005 it won Innovation and Internet Entrepreneur of the Year (IIA Net Visionary Awards), Best International eBusiness Website (United Nations World Summit, Tunisia), Small Business of the Year (Small Firms Association) and Digital Media Brand of the Year.