House Prices Fall 4.7% in Past Three Months

Asking prices for residential property around the country have fallen by 4.7% in the last 3 months, according to the latest report published by property website Daft.ie. The national average asking price now stands at €253,000. Asking prices have now fallen 27% from the peak in 2007 which corresponds to an average drop of €93,000.

The report highlights how asking prices in different regions around the country are adjusting at greatly varying speeds. Since the peak in 2007, Dublin and Meath prices have fallen 35% and 31% respectively, while in Munster, Kerry and Tipperary are down just 20% and 16% respectively. According to Ronan Lyons, Economist, Daft.ie, counties with larger percentage decreases in house prices are seeing better levels of transactions than counties where the falls are lower.

Commenting on the latest findings, Ronan Lyons, Economist Daft.ie said "These latest figures would suggest that the differences in asking prices regionally may be having an impact on the number of transactions taking place. Dublin has seen some of the greatest cuts in asking prices, and there is evidence that this is leading to a greater number of transactions, with the total number of properties for sale falling by over 12% in the last year. In Munster however, where price drops have been lower, the number of properties available for sale is still rising".

He continued "Looking at the next 12 months, two factors in particular are important for Ireland's property market. The first is the likely introduction of a universal property tax to replace stamp duty. If done correctly, this may not only remove uncertainty but also stimulate a healthy level of transactions.

The second is NAMA. Its enormous size is likely to set benchmarks in many segments of Ireland's property market but nonetheless it cannot buck the market and the Government needs to ensure that NAMA is implemented following the most thorough research possible."

For further information please contact:

Naoise McNally (085 7492363, 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 (May 2009) shows traffic of 103 million page impressions (pages of information received) and 1,275,630 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 24th edition, is based on an analysis of the full database of properties posted for advertisement on Daft.ie up to 30th September 2009. The monthly average for properties posted is over 12,000. 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.