Dublin house prices up almost one quarter

Photo: Infomatique

The latest data from the Central Statistics Office shows that Dublin continues to outpace the rest of the Irish property market, with residential prices leaping 23.9 per cent year-on-year in June 2014. This is almost double the national rate of growth, with property prices at a national level rising by 12.5 per cent.

Dublin house prices rose by 3.1 per cent from May 2014, also above the national rate of 2.9 per cent. Indeed, Dublin apartment prices were 18.2 per cent higher when compared with the same month of 2013, although it should be noted that the sub-indices for apartments are based on low volumes of observed transactions and consequently suffer from greater volatility than other series.

The extent to which Dublin is driving the market forward is evident when the rest of the Ireland (excluding the city) is considered: prices jumped just 3.4 per cent annually.

While there are some concerns that Dublin is entering a property bubble, though, the city is a long way from surpassing its previous peak. House prices in Dublin are 42.7 per cent lower than at their highest level in early 2007. Apartments in Dublin are 50.5 per cent lower than they were in February 2007. Overall, residential real estate prices in Dublin are 44.5 per cent lower than at their highest level in February 2007.

Nonetheless, there is evidence of gradual momentum building in the country, with June's month-on-month national rise an improvement upon the 2.3 per cent growth recorded in May, which in turn was also an improvement upon the 1.2 per cent growth recorded in June of last year.