House prices continued their downward slide in the second quarter of the year, although there is evidence residential properties are selling more quickly, according to the latest daft.ie report.
The report indicates homeowners trying to sell properties have now scaled back expectations even further.
The data shows the average asking price for residential properties fell by 4.2 per cent nationally to an average of €220,000, some 37 per cent below their peak.
Price falls have been most severe in Dublin city centre, where the average property has now almost halved in value.
However, properties in the capital are selling more quickly than elsewhere in the country. According to the report, Dublin properties spent an average of four months on the market before being sold, compared to a year in Connacht and Ulster.
Property prices in Ireland have slumped since 2007 as the economy entered a recession and unemployment soared.
Asking prices in Dublin fell 5 per cent in the past three months, taking their total decline to 40 per cent, the report showed.
Elsewhere in the country, prices are 34 per cent below the peak on average. In Cork and Limerick prices fell by 3 per cent and 2 per cent respectively during the last three months, while prices in Waterford fell by 7 per cent.
The largest falls in the country were in Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan, where asking prices fell by an average of 11 per cent, having been static for the past six months.
“While falls in asking prices are slower than last year, the market is still in adjustment and the total stock for sale, particularly outside the main cities, remains high,” Ronan Lyons, economist at Daft.ie, said.
"Nonetheless, evidence from Dublin in particular shows that properties are selling. Almost half the number of properties listed in the capital in January are now sale agreed or sold.”
“Around the country, about 5,000 properties were listed for sale in April. Of these, 15 per cent of properties have already been sold, while a further 10 per cent are sale agreed. This represents a slight slowing down, compared with the first quarter, when 20 per cent of properties listed in January were sold by April 1st, with a further 10 per cent sale agreed,” he said.