Fall in house prices fastest on record

HOUSE prices plunged by the fastest rate on record with more than €60,000, on average, being wiped off their value since a peak of two years ago.

The average price of a house fell 1.9% in April, the biggest monthly drop since the permanent tsb/ESRI house price index started in 1996. This compares with a drop of 1.0% in March, 0.8% in February and 1.4% in January.

In the first four months of this year, prices have plunged almost 5% and by close to 8% for first-time buyers. In the same period last year, prices were down 3.3%.