Property prices increased in February but will free-fall in wake of pandemic

The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show that nationally prices were up by 1.1pc in February compared with a year previously.

In Dublin, residential property prices decreased by 0.1pc in the year to February.

The overall market is likely to have since been hugely disrupted since due to the pandemic.

Very few homes sales are being completed. And Covid-19 has halted the construction of 60,000 new homes, construction experts say.

The CSO said that in February the highest house price growth in Dublin was in Fingal at 3.4pc, while Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown saw a decline of 2.9pc.

Prices in areas excluding Dublin were 2.4pc higher in the year to February, as the regions were playing catch-up after taking longer to recover.

The region outside of Dublin that saw the largest rise in house prices was the Border at 7.6pc. At the other end of the scale, the South-East saw a 1.2pc decline.

Overall, the national index was 18pc lower in February than its highest level in 2007.

Dublin residential property prices are 22pc lower than their February 2007 peak.

Households paid a median price of €260,000 for a dwelling on the residential property market in the year to February.

The Dublin region had the highest median price at €370,000.

Within the Dublin region, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had the highest median price at €525,000, while South Dublin had the lowest at €346,000, the CSO said.