Estate agents and auctioneers should be subject to independent or State regulation over market information they provide to the public, the Oireachtas committee on the Constitution has found.
In an advance draft of its report on property rights, the committee says the market is far from transparent.
Stating that the operations of the housing market must be supported by as much information as possible, it says that such information is "often distorted by rumour".
Such difficulties were identified more than 30 years ago in the 1973 Kenny report on the price of building land, which said it was not possible for members of the public to be able to find out what prices had been paid for land and the nature of dealings in it.
While the Kenny report said accurate statistics for the whole of the State were essential for policy-making decisions, the committee says such information is not yet available.
"In order to encourage transparency in property markets and research, transaction details should be gathered and published by the State.
"All lands should and titles should be registered by a specified date."
The committee adds: "Auctioneers and estate agents who generate, supply and promote market information should be regulated by either an independent body or the State."
The draft report of the Oireachtas committee says statistics about property markets are deficient and research relating to them is poor.
Noting that predictions about the market and economic modelling is difficult, the report states that Government intervention is often poorly targeted and can have unintended effects.
