Housing Market Picks Up In Dublin

Further signs of recovery in the housing market have been revealed, with the market up 2.4% overall in Dublin.

Official figures put the national market up 0.9% but most industry experts suggest that there is a wider picture developing of pockets of strong revival.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) report said that overall, in the five years since the crash began, prices have halved.

According to its property register, the housing market has grown steadily for three months in a row to September.

Although the statistics body does not give actual prices, houses in Dublin were believed to be worth on average of about 431,000 euros when the bubble burst in 2007.

In the Dublin market, the CSO said that house prices were up 2.6% in September but 10.6% down over the last year. Apartment prices in the capital were 8.8% lower over the 12 months.

Outside the capital, the price of homes fell by 0.1% in September compared with a decline of 1% in September last year. Prices were 9.9% lower than in September 2011, the CSO said.

Industry experts have consistently warned this year that the CSO report is lagging behind the real experience on the ground, with parts of south Dublin in particular seeing growing demand during much of this year.

Source : independent.ie 24/10/2012