House prices in Galway have travelled back in time with the price tag on a three-bedroom semi matching 1998 costing.

Prices of three-bed semi-detached houses have dropped to around €175k – a level last seen around 1998 – in parts of the city.

That’s a drop of around 55% since the height of the property boom, when similar properties sold for up to €385k. Meanwhile four-bed semis in established areas have sold for around €200k-€220k.

It is however the three-bed semi – traditionally seen as the 'staple' of first-time buyers – that has been hardest hit by the property crash. They are now selling for between €175k and €195k in western and eastern city suburbs.

Niall Browne, Residential Sales Manager with O’Donnellan & Joyce Auctioneers said: "There are exceptions, if it’s in good condition."

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"Yes, we are seeing three-beds at that level, but if they’re in very good condition, you’d get over €200k," he concluded.

Investors are also looking for suitably-priced rental properties around the city. They’re coming back in a big way, looking for city centre apartments around €100k to €175k.

These would be people who had exited the market previously and are worried about their money being in the bank because of all the recent negativity about the euro and the dollar.

Meanwhile the average asking price for houses in Donegal is also falling. The price of a three bedroom house in Donegal is now €130k rising to €197k for a four bedroom and €230k for a five bedroom home.

It is a similar story in Dublin where asking prices fell by 5.7% over the past three months, and now the typical asking price is half of what it was during the peak in 2007.

Cork and Limerick cities, also experienced similar drops in prices, falling between 5% and 6% over the same period, while Waterford city saw a decrease of almost 9% on average. Outside the main cities, many parts of the country - including Donegal, Cavan, Laois and Offaly - saw even steeper declines of up to 10%. The smallest falls, of less than 2%, were in Kerry and Mayo, which have seen in general some of the smallest falls from the peak.

(LB/BMcC)