Warning: curb house prices or market will crash

THE property market will crash unless the spiralling pace of growth in house prices begins to slow immediately, a top economist has warned.

Property experts, including Goodbody Stockbrokers, Sherry FitzGerald and Douglas Newman Good, have already radically revised upwards their estimates for house price hikes this year from single digit growth of around 6%-8% to 12%-13%. Estate agent Sherry FitzGerald is even predicting growth rates as high as 15%. Last year, house prices grew by almost 14%.

Research director with Goodbody's Colin Hunt said unsustainable house price increases were the biggest domestic threat to the economy.