Property prices soar €27,000 in a year but rate of increase slows
PROPERTY prices continued to rise at double-digit rates in June, but the rate of increase has eased.
Now experts expect price rises to ease further.
Figures from the Central Statistics Office show values were up by 12pc in the year to June across the State, with the strongest increases outside Dublin.
The median, or middle, value of a property nationwide has risen by €27,000 in the year to June compared with the same month last year. The median price paid by households for a home this year is €237,000.
The rise in June represents a slight slow down, as prices were up 12.4pc in May and 13.5pc in April. Slower house price growth in Dublin is mainly responsible for the marginal falling off in the rate of rise nationally.
Buyers in Dublin are coming up against Central Bank lending restrictions, while Dublin is seeing an up-tick in new properties for sale.
Dublin residential property prices increased by 9pc in the year to June.
Highest
This is the first time there has been single-digit growth in Dublin in more than a year.
The highest house price growth was in Dublin city, at 12pc. The lowest growth was in South Dublin, where house prices increased by 5.9pc.
Prices in the rest of the country were 15.2pc higher in the year to June.
Economist with Davy Stockbrokers David McNamara said he expected the annual inflation rate to ease further to about 8pc by the end of this year. But price rises outside Dublin would continue to be stronger, as affordability has become stretched in the capital.
He said the CSO data suggests that Central Bank rules on mortgage lending were beginning to constrain prices in Dublin.
Economist with estate agents Savills John McCartney said price rises outside Dublin were likely to slow down next month as we reached the first anniversary of strong increases outside the capital.
Austin Hughes of KBC Bank said supply was increasing and demand growth may have peaked.