HOUSE PRICES IN Ireland are still in decline but cash sales are increasing, a new report has found.

At the same time the rental market in Dublin grew in 2011 for the first time in three years, showing a 0.8 per cent increase in rental values in 2011, compared to a decline of 4.5 per cent in 2010 and a massive 16.4 per cent in 2009.

The annual survey by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland found that house prices across Ireland continued to decline in 2011 but at a marginally slower rate than in 2010.

In Leinster, the average selling price for a second-hand semi-detached house with three bedrooms dropped by just under 17 per cent in 2011 – compared to a decline of 17.1 per cent in 2010 and 19.8 per cent in 2009.

Munster saw a decline of 9.3 per cent for the same house type while Connacht saw a drop of 15.2 per cent.

Lack of access to money remains one of the biggest issues affecting the residential property market, according to Roland O’Connell, Vice President of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland.

“Until we see the financial institutions lending to qualified buyers, we will not see a recovery in activity levels in the property market,” said O’Connell.

Confidence in the residential property market remained relatively weak in 2011 due to a mixture of uncertainty around the economic situation and a lack of access to finance, the Society said.