House prices fall by over 20% in 2009

House prices in Ireland fell by over 20% in 2009, according to new figures.

The rate of decline is however slowing, estate agent Sherry Fitzgerald said, with the average price of a second-hand home down by 4% in the final quarter of the year compared to 8.3% in the first quarter.

Total correction in the national residential housing market was 20.3% in the 12 months, according to the Sherry FitzGerald index.

The average price of a second-hand property in Dublin fell by 4% in the final quarter of the year, bringing the total drop in prices in the capital to 21.5% during 2009.

The Cork market saw prices falling by 3.9% in the final quarter of 2009, bringing the results for the year to minus 20.2%.

From the peak of the market in 2006, Dublin house prices have fallen in real terms by 45.7%, while the national market has corrected by 40.2%.

This in effect means that prices in Dublin are back at levels achieved in quarter three 2003, while prices nationwide are back where they were in quarter two 2003, according to Sherry Fitzgerald.

"The pace of price correction has moderated notably from the beginning of the year," said Sherry Fitzgerald Chief Economist Marian Finnegan.

"There is no doubt that the opening months of 2010 will bring its own challenges particularly as consumers digest the implications of the Budget however the first indications that the market is moving toward a more stable period are emerging.”