Survey: House price slide cancels gains of past four years

HOUSE prices continued to slide last month — canceling out all the gains in value for the previous four years.

The latest price survey by Permanent TSB in conjunction with the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) shows prices nationally in February had fallen back to the same level as they were in February 2005 when the property boom was still in full swing.

Price statistics are gathered from mortgage applications for both houses and apartments and averaged out at e255,999 per dwelling last month, meaning the average home has lost just under e50,000 since prices were at their peak in February 2007. Homes outside the capital held their value better, falling by 0.9% in February compared with a 2.1% slump for homes in Dublin. In money terms, that works out at e339,042 per dwelling in Dublin last month and e220,741 per dwelling outside the capital.