Stamp duty receipts last month fell to just €180 million, almost half the amount collected during the same month last year, according to the exchequer returns published today by the Department of Finance.
The State's exchequer surplus for the end of January stood at €629.9 million compared with €1.69 billion surplus a year earlier, the Department said today.
Ireland ended last year with a €1.62 billion deficit versus a €2.27 billion budget surplus at the end of 2006.
An end to the property boom - when house prices quadrupled - has put the brakes on years of rapid growth and has weighed on public finances.
Tax revenue last month dropped to €4.61 billion, compared with €4.75 billion recorded a year earlier.
The level of capital gains tax coming in to state coffers also dropped. Total receipts though rose to €5.63 billion from €5.35 billion a year earlier.
The Department has projected a budget deficit of €4.87 billion at year end, with the figure rising to €5.83 billion in 2009.
"One would have to say that the overall budget deficit target (in 2008) is more likely to be higher rather than lower than what the department is forecasting," Bloxham chief economist Alan McQuaid wrote in a research note.
Total expenditure in January rose to €4.99 billion from €3.66 billion a year earlier.
Richard Bruton, Fine Gael deputy leader said the "shaky" Exchequer figures confirmed that the Minister for Finance Brian Cowen has "seriously damaged economy".
"Brian Cowen's pre-election spree and his total disregard for Irish competitiveness has severely damaged Ireland's ability to withstand an economic downturn. The latest Exchequer figures confirm a very shaky start to the year, and there are serious concerns that Minister Cowen's prediction of 60,000 housing completions in 2008 is over-optimistic," he said.