Irish house prices still in free-fall

The price of residential property in Ireland continues to fall as March comes to a close.

The feeling among many property professionals was that house prices had hit bottom and would, in the coming weeks, start to stabilize however latest data from the Central Statistical Office show this is not the case.

House prices have depreciated by more than 17.5 per cent during the last twelve months and looking at the total market the national index is 49 per cent lower the highest level recorded during 2007 before the markets crashed.

Overall residential property prices in Dublin had dropped by more than 20 per cent in the year to February – house prices had fallen by the same amount and values of apartments had dropped by almost 23 per cent over the twelve months.

The biggest price reductions have occurred in Dublin house prices are now 56 per cent lower than the peak five years ago and apartment prices in the city have declined by 62 per cent.