CSO reports that annual house prices are down for the second consecutive month

According to the Central Statistics Office, for the second consecutive month in August, residential property prices dropped by 0.6% year-on-year. This is the first time in seven years that house prices have fallen on an annual basis in July.

But the CSO said there are indications that the housing market is recovering from the COVID-19 collapse. CSO figures show that property prices are up 0.3% on a monthly basis.

Property websites have recently reported that mortgage lending is returning to normal, following the COVID-19 lockdown of the economy earlier this year.

Dublin residential property prices fell 1.6% in the year to August. CSO figures show that house prices are down 1.4% and apartment prices are down 0.1%. The highest house price growth in Dublin was in Fingal at 1.7%, while Dublin City saw a decline of 3.4%.

At the same time, residential property prices in other parts of the country rose 0.3% in the period to August.

The area outside Dublin, which had the highest spike in house prices, was 5.2% for the south-west, while 2.7% decline for the Border at the other side.

A total of 2,359 home deals were filed with Revenue in August, down 40.2% compared to the 3,947 purchases the same time last year. It also marked a 7.9% decrease compared with the 2,561 purchases in July 2020.  

The total value of transactions filed in August was €699m.

Households charged a median, or average, price of €258,500 for a residential property in the year to August.

The capital had the highest median price at €442,282 in the year to August. In the Dublin region, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had the highest mean price at €605,056, while South Dublin had the lowest price at €360,616.

The highest median prices outside of Dublin was in Wicklow at €368,638, while the lowest price was €120,335 in Leitrim.

The national index overall is 18% lower than its peak level in 2007.