Slash mortgage repayments right now

THE latest Permanent TSB/ESRI House Price Index makes interesting reading.

The average price for a house in Ireland in the second quarter of 2010 was €201,364. The average cost of a house in 1996 was €79,682.

By comparison, the consumer price index (CPI) published by the CSO rose by 42.5% from June 1996 to June 2010. If one applies that CPI increase to the average price of a house in 1996, then the average price of a house today should be only €113,575.