The price of houses and apartments in Ireland slid by 16.7 per cent in the year to December, new data from the Central Statistics Office showed today.

The average cost of a home nationally is now about €165,000, while in Dublin prices have fallen to €198,260.

According to the CSO residential property price index, the fall in property values picked up pace in December, after a decline of 15.6 per cent in the year to November, and 10.5 per cent for the same period a year earlier.

Over the month, prices were down 1.7 per cent, compared with 1.5 per cent in November.

Dublin was the worst hit, with property values down 19.3 per cent compared with a year earlier, and 2.4 per cent over the month. In comparison, prices in the rest of the country were 15.1 per cent lower over the year, and 1.1 per cent down on November 2011.

Houses in the capital have lost about 54 per cent of their value than at the peak recorded in 2007, while apartments are 58 per cent lower.

In the rest of the country, the average residential property has fallen by 43 per cent, just below the national average of 47 per cent off the 2007 peak.