‘Two tier’ divide in housing market as prices rise and fall across country

Economists have warned of a deepening of the “two tier” divide in the housing market as residential prices in Dublin rose once more year-on-year while those outside the capital fell once again.

However, they have also predicted that over the course of 2013, while there will be a “low single figures” drop in prices, it will be smallest annual decrease in the past six years.

Nationwide, property prices rose for the second consecutive month in May increasing by 0.3% according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office. However, year-on-year they fell by 1.1% compared to May 2012 — though that compared to a fall of 15.3% in the year to May 2012.