House prices drop 1.1% in a month

HOUSE prices dropped by 1.1% in September — extending a property slump that has reduced prices to the lowest in almost six years.

The latest TSB/ESRI House Price Index shows that nationally prices were down 11.1% in first nine months and prices are now the same as they were at Christmas 2003.

Measured over the 12 months to September, national prices were down by 13.1%.

This compares to a decline of 13.0% recorded in the 12 months to August 2009. The average price for a house nationally in September 2009 was €232,584, compared with €261,573 in December and a peak of €311,078 in February 2007. National prices have fallen 25.2% since this price peak.

Niall O’Grady, general manager business strategy, Permanent TSB said while the rate of decline was stable over the past few months, there was differences in other parts of the country, with Dublin prices falling much faster due to the stock of unused property.

House prices have fallen in every month since March 2007 and are now 25% below their peak in the early part of that year.

Independent credit ratings provider, Standard & Poor’s, this month said prices will have a “further dip” in 2010 after a 13% fall this year.

Prices in Dublin fell 2.1% in September from the previous month and by 19% from a year earlier.

Through the first nine months of 2009 prices in Dublin and outside Dublin fell by 14.4% and 9.9% respectively.

The average price for a house in Dublin and outside Dublin in September was €300,466 and €201,853 respectively.