House prices up by 6.9% since January
House prices in Ireland rose by an average of 6.9% in the first six months of this year, according to the latest Permanent TSB house price index.
The figure compares to an increase of 5.6% for the same period last year and shows that house prices are continuing to rise rapidly, despite the slowdown in the Irish economy.
Permanent TSB said the average cost of a house in Ireland at the end of June was €220,000. The average cost of a house in Dublin was €292,000.
The figures also show that house prices in Dublin have more than trebled since 1996.
During June, national house prices rose by 1.1%, which is slightly slower than in the previous two months.
Niall O'Grady of Permanent TSB said the rate of growth was stronger than had been expected at the start of the year.
He said that although demand for new houses was being matched by supply, increased demand for existing homes from people trading up was driving much of the current growth.
Average prices of new houses rose by 3.3% in the first six months of the year, but existing homes showed growth of 8%. For the month of June, new house prices fell by 1.3%, while second-hand prices were up 1.8%.
Prices for first-time buyers rose by 8.6% in the six-month period, while the rise was 6.2% for second-time buyers.
