Property Prices Retreating To 2005 levels

13th January 2009, Asking prices fell almost 15% over the course of 2008, according to the latest report from property website Daft.ie. The decline in prices accelerated in the latter months of 2008, with asking prices falling 5.8% in the last quarter alone. The national average asking price fell €58,000 in 12 months to €295,000 - the same level as in January 2006.

The total fall from the peak of the market in mid-2007 is now over 16%, with many areas around the country, including Leitrim and Louth seeing falls of almost 20%. In Wexford, Kildare, and Cavan, prices fell by up to 17%. While South County Dublin has been hardest hit, with typical asking prices in the area now €150,000 lower than at the peak.

According to Ronan Lyons, Economist with daft.ie. "The ongoing fall-out from overproduction of housing in Ireland in recent years has combined with unprecedented developments in the global economy. As a result, asking prices have tumbled, particularly towards the end of the year, reversing gains made in 2006."

Looking to the future, Lyons notes that some counties are likely to be slower to recover than others. "Areas suffering from a glut of properties, may need a longer or a larger adjustment. Ballpark figures, based on the 2006 Census and daft.ie listings, suggest that as much as 10% of properties are for sale in counties like Roscommon, Cavan and Leitrim, compared to less than 5% in some counties."

The full report, containing an overview of regional trends and commentary by Ronan Lyons, economist with Daft.ie, is available online at www.daft.ie/report.

For further information please contact:
Naoise McNally (01 421 8700), Daft.ie - media@daft.ie

Notes to the Editor
Daft.ie is Ireland's largest property website. The latest audited report from ABCe (September 2008) shows traffic of 85 million page impressions (pages of information received) and 1,025,838 unique users. Daft.ie is now the number one property website in Ireland across all demographics, from first-time-buyers to commercial property investors.

About the Daft.ie House Price Report
The Daft.ie House Price Report, now in its 20th edition, is based on an analysis of the full database of properties posted for advertisement on Daft.ie up to 1st January 2009. The monthly average for properties posted is just over 40,000. This figure represents a large percentage of the available properties for sale in the country and therefore gives a very accurate and timely reflection of what is actually happening in the Irish property market. Figures are calculated from econometric regressions using standard methods.