The fall in Irish house prices has bottomed out, that's according to the Irish Home Builders Association.

The group suggests average new property values across the country have dropped by 40%.

Current house prices as not sustainable, the IHBA said, predicting in its Winter Housing Review and Outlook for 2009 that building will not resume on new projects until prices match input costs.

IHBA said builders are prepared to wait until they see a reasonable return on their investments.

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Current unsold stock predictions have been greatly exaggerated, according to the Association, which claims, in real terms, available property only covers eight month's worth of normalised demand.

Chairman Dominic Doheny suggested the only new homes set to be built this year and next are one-off rural dwellings.

He suggested urban, built up areas such as Dublin will emerge first in a recovery.

Over the past three years, Leitrim produced more house completions per head of than any other county in Ireland, according to the IHBA.

Mr Doheny said many construction firms are currently selling purely to cover borrowings, rather than generating actual profits.

He said such an business approach can not continue for much longer.

According to Mr Doheny, no new houses will be built in the current environment.

He claimed there is no incentive to commence work on new developments due to present market forces.

(PR/BMcC)