House prices in Cork are rising at a faster rate than those in Dublin, the Irish Permanent has said.

At a news conference in Cork yesterday, the Republic's largest mortgage lender, said its research had shown that between the second and third quarters of this year house prices in Cork rose by 7.4 per cent. Over the same period in Dublin, the increase was only 5.5 per cent.

"The review of prices in Cork has been undertaken by Irish Permanent in association with the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). It is a development of the Irish Permanent House Price Index, which reviews house price movements on a national basis and which is published each month."

The Irish Permanent deals with almost one in four mortgages provided in the Republic. A spokesman for the group said the current performance of prices in Cork compared with those in Dublin was in contrast to the longer term trend of prices in the two regions.

"Since the second quarter of 1996, prices in Cork have risen by 69 per cent compared to a rise of 110 per cent for prices in Dublin."

The Irish Permanent said the average mortgage provided in Cork was £56,000 (€71,105), while in Dublin the figure was £77,000.

First-time buyers in Cork were taking out an average mortgage of £60,000; in Dublin, the figure was £88,000. Second-time buyers in Cork averaged a mortgage of £51,000 compared with £67,000 in Dublin.