Residential property prices nationwide rose by 11.9% in the 12 months to May and prices are accelerating at twice the rate of the previous 12 months.

The Government has said it will be able to turn other parts of the country into rent pressure zones, as will be the case for Dublin and Cork City, within weeks if required.

The housing crisis is in danger of worsening if the Government fails to enact serious reform of the planning system and elevate housing projects to critical/strategic infrastructure status, one industry representative has claimed.

Only 11,000 new housing completions are expected this year — as housing demand continues to outstrip supply.

House prices jumped by 7.1% in the 12 months to April as the Government faced renewed warnings about Ireland’s housing crisis.

Thousands of new jobs are at risk of being lost to Ireland because of the housing crisis, business leaders warned.

New housing starts have again disappointed with fewer than 1,800 units having been started in the last three months of last year, according to business group Property Industry Ireland.

The local property tax rate is to remained unchanged until 2019 to allow time for the Government to consider a new system for calculating the charge.

House prices outside Dublin have out-performed the capital for the first time since the recession began, new official figures show.

21,000 target for new homes for this year In 2014 just over 11,000 new homes became available.

The majority of home-buyers will in future have to put down a 20% deposit and be able to borrow a maximum of 3.5 times their salary, according to new rules by the Central Bank.

House sales are up 48% nationally, according to figures presented to the Oireachtas by IBEC-related lobby group, Property Industry Ireland.

Rent controls and a massive home building drive are needed to ease the housing crisis, Sinn Féin has warned the Government.

House prices in Dublin are now rising at more than seven times the rate of the rest of the country.

House prices are rising at the quickest rate since the peak of the property boom seven years ago, latest official figures show.

Ireland is fast becoming an urban nation, with Dublin among the most congested cities worldwide, according to Property Industry Ireland, the organisation that represents businesses in the property and construction sector.

A Government plan to help people get a mortgage is looking at the issue 'from the wrong side', according to lobby group Property Industry Ireland (PII).

A shortage of suitable sites and a complex planning system is slowing down the delivery of new houses that is contributing to the current rapid rise in property prices in some areas.

The time may be ripe for residential investors to consider opportunities in regional cities and large towns.

Those who bought houses at the peak of the boom, paying tens of thousands of euro in stamp duty, will be liable for the new Property Tax from Jul 2013.