According to figures released this week by the Central Statistics Office, Irish property prices rose by 1.2 per cent in the year to June 2013.
This is the first annual increase since January 2008.
It is expected that this increase will encourage buyers who were on the sidelines to enter the market, prompting hopes that a recovery will get under way.
However, despite the rise, it should be noted that Irish property prices are still 50 per cent lower than they were at their peak in September 2007.
Over this same period the Euro, which has been used as the currency in Ireland since 1999, has depreciated by 11 per cent against the US dollar which means the drop in US dollar terms is even higher at 60 per cent. This is significantly worse than UK and US markets which are 34 per cent and 29 per cent below peak as of June 2013 (in US dollar terms).
Ireland’s economy was one of the worst hit in the EU. GDP dipped for 3 straight years (2008, 2009 and 2010) before recovering slightly in 2011 and 2012. This of course followed a period of extremely strong growth between 2000 and 2007 when GDP growth averaged over 5.0 per cent per annum.
In Dublin, residential property prices grew by 1.7 per cent in June and were 4.2 per cent higher than a year ago.
Interestingly, the prices of Dublin homes valued at more than €500,000 increased by significantly more than lower priced properties over the past 12 months.
The average price of a second hand home in the capital is now €279,000 according to Douglas Newman Good (DNG).
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