House prices outside Dublin fall

THE average price of a house broke the €250,000 mark for the first time in October, the latest permanent tsb/ESRI House Price Index reveals.

The index shows house prices grew by 8.1% in the first 10 months of 2004 down from 10.9% over the same period last year, the smallest rate of increase in almost three years.

However, the increase masks a 0.5% fall in the price of houses outside Dublin in October.