Dublin house prices continue to rise

The Dublin house price surge continues apace, according to the latest set of figures from the Central Statistics Office.

In November, house prices in the capital grew by 1.3 per cent, equating to a rise of 13.1 per cent, year on year. The rapid growth in Dublin house prices began last July with a jump of 7.5 per cent on the previous 12 months.

This went into double figures in August with a rise of 10.5 per cent, followed by 12.2 per cent the next month and by 14.6 per cent in October.

While apartment prices in Dublin were seen to be 20.7 per cent higher this past November compared to November 2012, the statisticians cautioned that the figure was based on a low number of sales, as a result of which prices may be volatile and give an inaccurate impression of what longer term trends actually are.

Nationally, the residential property price rise, based on sales of all types of residential properties, from November 2012 to 2013 was just 5.6 per cent, a slight dip on the October to October 12 month period when the rise was 6.1 per cent.

House prices nationwide increased 5.2 per cent in the 12 months to November, compared to a rise of 5.9 per cent in the October 2012 to October 2013 period. The price of apartments nationally rose by 15.1 per cent, November to November, compared to 11.7 per cent in the October 2012 to October 2013 period.

But when Dublin is excluded from the survey, it is seen that the prices of residential property overall fell by 0.6 per cent in the 12 months to November, compared to a fall of 0.3 per cent in the October 2012 to October 2013 period - reaffirming that the property bounce-back is essentially a Dublin-centred phenomenon.

Compared to prices at the height of the boom time property bubble, house prices in Dublin today remain 47.5 per cent down on February 2007 prices, while apartment prices are down 56.1 per cent. The fall in the rest of the country is 46.9 per cent with a total overall national decline still standing at 46.5 per cent today compared to early 2007 prices.