Official figures show that annual growth in the price of residential property accelerated slightly in September, reversing a downward trend that had begun in March 2022.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) said that home prices rose by 1.4% compared with September last year – up from growth of 1.1% in August. The August figure had been the lowest since November 2020.

The increase was due to an acceleration in growth outside Dublin, where home prices rose at an annual rate of 4%, compared with 3.4% in August.

In contrast, Dublin prices fell by 1.9%, a slightly sharper drop than the 1.8% recorded in August.

Dublin house prices fall

The figures also show that home prices rose by 0.8% during September alone, having increased by 0.5% in each of the previous two months.

In the 12 months to September 2023, house prices in Dublin fell by 2.5%, while apartment prices were up by 0.7%. Within Dublin, there was a fall in house prices of 0.1% in Fingal, while Dublin City saw a decline of 4%.

Outside Dublin, house prices were up by 3.9% and apartment prices rose by 4.5%. The region outside of Dublin that saw the largest rise in house prices was the south-west (5.4%).

Revenue records fewer purchases

Residential-property prices of new dwellings in the third quarter of 2023 were 10.4% higher than in the corresponding quarter of 2022. The annual increase was 11% in the second quarter.

Prices of existing homes in the third quarter of 2023 were 1% lower than in the same quarter of 2022, having risen at an annual rate of 0.6% in the second quarter.

In September 2023, Revenue recorded 4,255 home purchases by households at market prices – a decrease of 7.2% compared with September 2022.

Households paid a median or mid-point price of €320,000 for a residential property in the 12 months to September 2023.