House prices continue to rise, according to two house price indices released yesterday. The Irish Permanent index says house prices in the Republic grew by 2.7 per cent between June and July.
In the first seven months of the year, prices rose by 18.6 per cent, over twice as quickly as during the same period in 1997.
However, the price rises over the month marked a slowdown from the previous month, when they rose 4.2 per cent.
According to First Active's index, the price of new three-bedroom houses rose by 15.8 per cent between April and June compared to 5.1 per cent in the first three months of the year.
The First Active index also showed that second-hand prices in Dublin city rose by 14.9 per cent compared with 10.8 per cent in Dublin county, against 4 per cent and 6 per cent respectively in the first three months of this year.
Ms Barbara Patten, head of marketing at Irish Permanent, said its figures suggested that the pace of growth in house prices may be beginning to stabilise.
"This is the first time there has been a slowdown in July since we began to compile the figures in 1996," she said. "But it is only one month's figures and it is difficult to call a trend based on such a short time period."
The indices point to a limited impact from the Bacon recommendations, although those are likely to exert a greater influence later in the year as the measures feed through to the market.
Irish Permanent also found that the price growth in Dublin continued to outpace growth outside Dublin. Dublin house prices rose 3.9 per cent in July, while those outside Dublin rose 2.2 per cent, the lowest monthly increase since last March.
Over the 12 months to the end of July, Dublin house prices rose 39.8 per cent, while prices outside Dublin rose by 20.5 per cent.
But contrary to First Active's findings, Irish Permanent found that second-hand house prices have risen faster than new houses. Across all areas, second-hand prices rose 22.3 per cent in the year to date, compared with 9.1 per cent in the same period in 1997.
