Over 9% Price Drop On Irish Homes Since Last June

The average Irish house price dropped by 9.7% during the 12 months leading up to June, according to the latest market figures.

The Permanent TSB/ESRI house price index showed 0.2% accelerated fall between May and June 2008.

The 12 months to May reported a 9.5% decline.

Industry insiders have said this downward trend is set to continue.

Goodbody Stockbrokers has predicted property prices will have dipped by 12% by the end of 2008.

House prices have already dropped 12.1% since the peak of early 2007, according to the stockbroker.

In June - the sixteenth successive month of price falls - the average house price dropped by around 0.6%.

In the face of decelerated month on month falls, Goodbody has insisted monthly declines are set to continue "for some time yet".


In June 2007 the average house in Ireland cost €302,605, by December this stood at €287,887, while in June this year the average price tag was €273,392.

An annual fall of over €48,000, meaning on average €4,000 was wiped of the price of homes every month.

Dublin properties seemed to feel the least impact of the June price dip, with a 0.2% fall.

This was well below the countrywide average of 0.8%.

For the first half of the year, prices fell in Dublin by 4.5% and by 5.1% outside the capital.

Around 1.4% was knocked off the cost of homes located in commuter counties such as Louth, Meath, Wicklow and Kildare, in June.

This was a slightly accelerated pace of decline, compared to 0.9% in May.

Since December 2007 the average house price in the commuter belt has dropped by almost €20,000.

Nationally, average prices have fallen by 5% in the first six months of 2008, with the biggest drop so far this year seen in May, when prices fell 1.1%.

New builds suffered the worst in the turbulent market, declining 6.1% in the first six months of 2008, compared to the 3.9% decline seen in second hand homes.

Permanent TSB's Niall O'Grady said: "Price reductions are continuing nationally and while there have been reductions in all segments of the market, the sharper fall in the price of new houses reflects a more aggressive approach by developers in order to stimulate some market demand."

(PR/JM)