Prices of houses and apartments increased by 6.9% in the year to June, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The pace of growth represented an acceleration from the revised annual rate of 5.4% in May, and was the fastest since November 2018. Prices of homes have been rising since November last year, having dropped during much of 2020 after COVID-19 restrictions were imposed.

The annual increase outside Dublin – at 7.4% – continues to outpace the capital, where prices rose by 6.4%.

Prices of existing homes jump

There was a marked contrast in prices of apartments over the previous 12 months, with an increase of just 2.1% in Dublin, but a jump of 15.2% elsewhere.

The CSO said prices of homes rose by 1.4% during the month.

Its figures for the second quarter of this year show that prices of new houses and apartments were up 2.2% compared with the same period in 2020. Prices of existing homes, however, jumped by 6.7% over the year.

Earlier this week, a report from property website Daft.ie showed that rents across the country rose at their fastest rate since mid-2019 in the second quarter of this year.