Updated 7.40pm
ASKING PRICES FOR houses in Ireland dipped in the final three months of last year for the first time in almost two years.
The average asking price nationwide is now €193,000, a fall of 1%, according to property website Daft.ie.
However, the figure is still almost 13% higher than the average asking price one year ago.
Asking prices for Dublin houses fell even more towards the end of 2014, by an average of 0.7%.
It was the first time since the middle of 2012 that prices in the capital have dropped. The average asking price in Dublin varies from a low of €216,814 in west Dublin to a high of €455,000 in south county Dublin.
Asking prices in Cork and Galway fell by 1%, while Limerick and Waterford saw falls of between 3% and 4%.
The author of the Daft.ie report, economist Ronan Lyons, said that although the new Central Bank limits on mortgage lending have not yet come into force, they have already had some impact.
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“For example, when asked what they expected will happen to Dublin house prices over the coming 12 months, survey respondents in September expected an increase of 12%. In December, however, the figure had fallen to 5%.”
The proposed rules from the Central Bank will see first-time buyers required to have a deposit of 20% and banks only lending 3.5 times the amount of the buyers’ income.
Lyons said that restricting the amount that households could borrow was a “necessary first step to ensuring a stable housing market”.
“The second step is addressing the cost base, to ensure an adequate supply of housing. With fewer than 30,000 properties on the market currently – and just 3,500 of those in Dublin – this is the challenge for policymakers as we move into 2015″.
The figures in the Daft.ie report echo findings by the Central Statistics Office, which found that property prices fell slightly in Dublin in November – but were still 22.4% higher than they had been one year previously.
Prices in the capital dropped by 0.1%, according to the CSO. It was the first drop in monthly prices since February 2014.
Meanwhile, the latest report from MyHome.ie reports that house prices are set to rise this year, but only at modest levels.
The latest house pricing survey finds that the average asking for a Dublin house rose by 2.2% in the last quarter of 2014, to €269,000.
Angela Keegan, the managing director of MyHome.ie said the substantial rise in transactions during 2014, up 38%, was most welcome, as it shows the recovery is gaining ground.
First published 7am. Additional reporting Christina Finn
Note: TheJournal.ie has some shareholders in common with Daft.ie.
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