House and apartment prices increased by 10.5% to the end of April this year, the biggest rise since two years ago when prices rose by 11.2%, it has emerged.

House prices will rise 10% this year across the State and climb at even faster pace outside of Dublin, fuelled by the Government’s Help to Buy scheme and the Central Bank’s loosening of its mortgage lending controls, Davy Stockbrokers has predicted.

Sterling will slump to 90 pence against the euro in the coming months in the wake of the Brexit vote, putting pressure on Irish firms exporting to Britain, leading analysts have predicted.

A €254m jump in the value of goods exports helped drive a near 22% surge in Ireland’s trade surplus in April, newly published preliminary figures from the CSO show.

Buoyant exchequer returns published yesterday will give any new minority government significant fiscal headroom, but there may be clouds on the horizon, analysts have said.

An incoming government can expect a “healthy” rise in tax revenues this year, as the economy extends a remarkable growth spurt of 6%, said Conall Mac Coille, chief economist at Davy Stockbrokers.

More than 36,350 home-owners in long-term arrears have little or no chance of ever repaying their mortgage, experts believe.

National property prices dropped by half a per cent in November, the first decrease since last February, according to the Central Statistics Office.

A huge flow of corporation tax receipts has swelled exchequer finances, meaning the Government is likely to have €3bn more in its coffers at the end of this year than it expected just a year ago.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan will announce one of the largest ever pre-election giveaway budgets tomorrow, because his measures will effectively amount to €3bn, double the amount the Coalition has long advertised, one of the country’s top economists has said.

One of the most generous pre-election budgets ever is to be unveiled by Finance Minister Michael Noonan, with tax cuts and spending hikes amounting to €3bn, twice what ministers had signalled.

The Government is set to benefit from an unexpected €100m income boost this year due to a tax most people do not even know they are paying.

Coalition ministers yesterday hailed a bounty of taxes, saying that the economic recovery has been secured and reiterated plans for an expansionary pre-budget budget.

Buoyant government tax receipts to be announced today will likely strengthen pressure for more give-aways in the looming budget.

A “vintage era” for Irish small business exporters will likely extend through next year, as the euro remains lower for longer against sterling than once thought, leading economists have predicted.

Ireland is attracting huge amounts of inward foreign investment, but the country can not take for granted that the flows that helped drive the economy out of crisis will be repeated, a leading economist has warned.

Unemployment may slip below 8% just ahead of the next general election, but the dramatic improvement is likely to stall because the huge numbers on Government activation programmes will likely keep the jobless rate at an elevated level, experts have warned.

Surging exports on the back of a competitive euro and a recovery in the value of the huge amount of pharmaceutical products made in Ireland is likely to soon trigger a new round of upgrades in projections for economic growth.

Contract manufacturing inflated Ireland’s trade figures massively last year in swelling sector growth far above actual levels, according to Davy Stockbrokers.

Davy Stockbrokers expects unemployment to dip to just over 9.5% next year and by a further 1% in 2016 as recent indicators suggest Ireland’s economy is the fastest growing in the Eurozone.

The Government need not make any spending cuts or increase taxes any further in this year’s budget to achieve its targets, according to Davy Stockbrokers.

The number of dole claimants has dropped below 400,000 for the first time since 2009, but a significant drop in young claimants has prompted speculation that emigration may be the reason for the overall decline.

Unemployment decreased by 9.3% in the 12 months to the end of March — statistics that are being described as “very positive” as this is the first time the figure has dropped below 300,000 since 2010.

Almost nine months after she left the programme to undergo treatment for cancer, Morning Ireland stalwart Áine Lawlor was back on the airwaves yesterday.

The Taoiseach has said dole queues are still too long, despite a reduction in the number signing on last month.

Industrial production declined 3.6% in February compared to the previous month, latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) published today show.

Broadcaster Áine Lawlor, who is being treated for cancer, intends returning to her regular slot on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland later this year.

Latest figures published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) today show a trade surplus of €44.7bn, the highest annual surplus on record.

GROWTH in the Irish economy will continue to slow in 2012 as export growth slows and consumer spending remains subdued as people fret about the economy and their jobs, according to Davy chief economist Conall Mac Coille.