House prices fall 1.4% in the capital
During the three-month period, the average asking price in Dublin fell by 1.4%, only the second fall in over three years. Outside Dublin, however, the average asking price rose by 3.9%.
The national average asking price in the third quarter of 2015 was just over €205,000, compared to just under €190,000 a year ago and €164,000 at its lowest point in early 2013.
While prices in Dublin fell, prices in other cities rose strongly for the third quarter in a row. In Cork, prices rose by 6.8% while, in both Galway and Waterford cities, there was a 7.2% increase in just three months.
The largest increase was in Limerick City which saw a 7.7% increase in prices between June and September. Outside the major cities, prices were up 3.5% during the same period.
This means that year-on-year, house price inflation in Dublin has slowed dramatically, from 24.5% in the third quarter of 2014 to just 2.4% in the same period in 2015.
This occurred at a time when there was a substantial increase in price inflation elsewhere, both in cities outside the capital (from 10.5% to 17.9%) and in rural areas (from 8.4% to 12.5%).
An analysis of Property Price Register transactions reveals similar trends, with annual price inflation in Dublin (at 2.6%) well below other cities (17.7%) and the rest of the country (15.7%).
The author of the Daft.ie report, Ronan Lyons, said: “The latest figures confirm that the Central Bank borrowing rules have had a dramatic impact on house price inflation in the dearest parts of the country.
“In year-on-year terms, house prices are now falling in Dublin 6, Dublin 14, and Dublin 18, while in other expensive markets — such as Dublin 4, Dublin 6W, and south Co Dublin, they are effectively static.
“This immediate cooling of the market is to be welcomed, although a side-effect of the income caps is a shift in demand elsewhere in the country.”
This is seen clearly in Dublin’s commuter counties, where house prices have risen 14% over the last 12 months.
“In Ireland’s other cities, where year-on-year inflation is at 18%, this is arguably Central Bank income caps acting as a target, rather than a constraint,” said Mr Lyons.
