Irish homes cost less now, on average, than they did last September following the second successive monthly fall in prices, data from Permanent TSB and the ESRI indicates.
The monthly house price index, published yesterday, said the average home cost €306,619 in April. That is nearly €2,500 less than the figure for March and lower than the €308,179 recorded last September. House prices in Dublin held steady last month, according to the survey, rising fractionally by 0.1 per cent. But in so-called "commuter counties" - Louth, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow - values fell by 1.8 per cent.
In percentage terms, house prices nationally are still 5.1 per cent higher than at the same point last year. However, the rate of growth is slowing rapidly. In March, the annual growth rate was 7.4 per cent. Last summer prices were rising by 15 per cent year-on-year.
Since the start of 2007, property prices, as recorded by the index, have fallen by 1.3 per cent compared with a rise of 5 per cent in the first four months of 2006.
Month-on-month, prices were down by 0.8 per cent. Compared to a monthly fall of 0.6 per cent in March and a broadly flat performance in the first two months of the year, the latest trend suggests that the fall in the cost of property gathered some momentum in April.
"The reduction in average national house prices in April has been reflected in all market sectors with the exception of Dublin and new houses, and they have shown little or no growth," said Niall O'Grady, head of marketing at Permanent TSB, yesterday.
Property in the capital continues to outperform, with prices 10.6 per cent ahead year-on-year, compared to the 5.1 per cent increase nationally. In commuter counties, the comparative figure is 4.8 per cent.
"So far this year, prices in Dublin's commuter counties have experienced the greatest rate of reduction, while Dublin prices have remained relatively stable," said Mr O'Grady.
"Clearly the uncertainty around stamp duty was still a factor in April and, together with recent and likely future ECB interest rate rises, both are impacting on demand for houses."
The average price paid for a house in Dublin last month was €429,754 compared to €262,333 elsewhere in the State. The price of a house in the commuter counties in April 2007 was €331,937.
Separate data from the European Central Bank yesterday shows that mortgage lending in the euro zone is expanding at the slowest rate for more than three years as higher interest rates bite.
The annual growth rate had peaked at 12.2 per cent in March 2006, but fell to 8.9 per cent in March this year and to 8.6 per cent in April, the lowest since November 2003.