Consumer fears of a house price crash have lessened over the last six months, according to research carried out by IIB Bank and the ESRI.
In a statement, IIB and ESRI said the study was aimed at trying to examine whether the "factors supporting [housing] demand had remained stable" over that period.
The report found that 0.5 per cent of people now expect a serious decline in the price of property, compared with 2 per cent in August 2003.
"We reckon this reflects the resilience of the Irish housing market in the face of a sequence of gloomy comments in the past couple of years alongside signs of a clear improvement in the Irish economy through the later stages of last year."
The research says an improvement in the domestic employment market reduced a significant source of the threat of a house price fall.
Consumers now expect house prices to rise by 5.5 per cent over the next 12 months, a significant slowing on the 14 per cent inflation rate for 2003.
However, expectations for 2004 are now running a full 1 per cent ahead of August 2003 when house price inflation for the year was predicted at 4.5 per cent.
Describing the house price boom as a "remarkable demand dynamic about which relatively little is known" IIB and ESRI said almost a quarter of those questioned believed "economic trends" were behind the boom, with a further 20 per cent citing population growth.
Low mortgage rates are also seen as critical to the continued strength of house prices. IIB and the ESRI suggested this indicates "near-term affordability is increasingly important".