Good news for homeowners today, as €82 is expected to fall from average mortgage payments as interest rates take another fall.

The key policy rate has been cut to 2%, and reduced monthly repayments on a €300,000 mortgage by €82.

In some other good news, the Taoiseach Brian Cowen has given a surprisingly upbeat forecast, predicting the slump in house prices could come to a halt this year.

A report by the Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute yesterday however found that new house prices in Dublin fell by 15% in 2008, totalling a drop of 25% since their peak in 2006.

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But after so many gloomy reports recently, Mr Cowen's bright outlook was cheered other economists including the author of the Daft.ie property report, Ronan Lyons, who said: "The Taoiseach is right in that things could turn around with low interest rates and all the new stimulus packages. Then there may well be a bottoming out of the market in some areas. It's not groundless."

In a report released by Mr Lyons yesterday, he said: " with good management, we can look ahead and spot elements of a brighter future - just look at the cost of petrol, mortgages, food or clothing now compared to a year ago. Ultimately, with the resolve to put right what needs to be fixed, and with a far better starting point than we had in the mid-1980s, we have to be confident about our prospects for the future."

(DW/BMC)