Happy st. Patrick's day? Dublin property prices boom

Photo: Infomatique

Dublin's property market is booming, according to Knight Frank, outperforming even Los Angeles, Tokyo and Dubai. Indeed, the firm's global report ranked the Irish capital as the fifth fastest-rising property market, with values rocketing 17.5 per cent in 2013 year-on-year.

Despite the rosy outlook for Dublin's real estate, though, the picture is less positive on a national level. Average house prices fell "almost everywhere" with the exception of Dublin and Kildare, according to the Irish Examiner.

The newspaper analysed figures from the Residential Property Price Register and found that average house prices fell 7 per cent in Ireland. If Dublin is excluded, prices fell even further by 9 per cent.

Nonetheless, investors are flocking to the country, with PwC highlighting both Ireland and Spain as strong opportunities in 2014 thanks to low prices and economies that are beginning to enjoy growth. Indeed, sales of full price properties soared 18 per cent in 2013 compared to 2012, while the total value of all residential sales last year rose 24 per cent to more than €5.9 billion, driven Dublin's rebound and its commuter belt.

Across the border in Northern Ireland, meanwhile, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Ulster Bank's latest report reveals that prices also climbed in February, continuing a monthly string of rises since June 2013.

Samuel Dickey of RICS told the BBC: "The trajectory of house prices in Northern Ireland is continuing to broadly align with the wider economic picture, as a range of indicators are pointing to positive growth.

"The evidence is that overall transaction levels are also picking up, something that we expect to see continuing into the spring and summer months, when the market is traditionally busier."