Irish house price growth overtakes dubai

Photo: Infomatique

Turkey and Dubai have enjoyed some of the strongest property price rises in recent years, as the two growing economies have fuelled international demand from investors. Now, though, there is a new star: Ireland.

The country, which was once at the bottom of the Knight Frank Global House Price Index, is now enjoying the fastest price rises on the planet, with property prices leaping 15 per cent in Q3 2014 compared to Q3 2013 - outstripping the 14 per cent recorded year-on-year by Turkey and even Dubai's 12.5 per cent.

Knight Frank's index, though, rose just 0.1 per cent overall, as many markets begin to cool down. Indeed, Dubai's prices fell 1.6 per cent on six-month basis, a significant turnaround from its 25 per cent annual growth recorded not long ago. Its quarterly drop of 5.2 per cent is its first quarterly decline in four years.

Despite Ireland's strong growth, though, it still has some way to go to reach its previous heights, with values 39 per cent below the pre-crisis peak recorded in 2007.

Kate Everett-Allen, of Knight Frank’s International Residential Research, comments: “Ireland now tops the rankings, having languished at the foot of the table for most of 2009 to 2012.”

Spain remains near the bottom of the table, but has shown marked improvement through the past year, with declines of 2.7 per cent year-on-year bottoming out in Q3, as prices remained the same as Q2.

"Fewer countries are reaching the heights of double-digit price growth but it’s not all bad news," adds Everett-Allen. "No country has recorded an annual fall in house prices in excess of 10 per cent for three consecutive quarters suggesting a slight convergence in the performance of the 54 housing markets tracked."