Permanent-TSB reports 0.8% rise in house prices

House prices in Ireland grew by an average of 0.8% last month, according to the latest Permanent-TSB house price index.

The increase brings the total rise in house prices so far this year to 9%, compared to 7.4% in the first eight months of 2002.

Permanent-TSB said the annual increase to the end of August was 15%, slightly lower than the 15.6% increase recorded in the 12 months to the end of July.

The monthly rise in August was, as usual, higher in Dublin than it was in the rest of the country. Dublin prices rose by 1.4% during the month, compared to an increase of 0.8% outside the capital

The Permanent-TSB house price index showed that the average price paid for a house in August was more than €224,000, almost three times the average price recorded when the index first began in March 1996.

Average house prices in Dublin have now surpassed €298,000, while the average price outside the capital is around €194,000. These figures represent annual price increases of 18.1% in Dublin and 12.9% in the rest of the country.

Niall O’Grady, the head of marketing at Permanent-TSB, said the growing gap between prices in Dublin and the rest of the country showed the need for limited development in the capital and increased development in other urban centres.