Average Irish property price dips below €200,000

The average asking price for residential property now stands at €196,000, according to a report by property website Daft.ie.

Asking prices for residential property around the country fell by an average of 5.1 per cent during the second quarter of 2011, according to the latest Daft.ie report.

The average asking price in June was €196,000, a fall of 47 per cent from the 2007 peak.

In Dublin, asking prices fell by 5.7 per cent over the past 3 months, and now the typical asking price is half of what it was during the peak in 2007.

Cork, Galway and Limerick cities, also experienced similar drops in prices, falling between 5 per cent and 6 per cent over the same period, while Waterford city saw falls of almost 9% on average.

Outside the main cities, many parts of the country - including Donegal, Cavan, Laois and Offaly - saw even steeper falls of up to 10 per cent.

The smallest falls, of less than 2 per cent, were in Kerry and Mayo, which have seen in general some of the smallest falls from the peak.

Ronan Lyons, economist with Daft.ie said: "The second quarter of 2011 has seen one of the sharpest adjustments in prices since the correction started four years ago.

"With successful auctions of distressed properties at 60 per cent or more below peak levels, the sharp fall may actually reflect increased realism on the part of sellers.

"Other factors are also important though. One is the intense competition sellers face due to the high level of stock sitting on the market, especially outside Dublin.

"Another factor is that would-be buyers continue to face significant obstacles to obtaining a mortgage. Nonetheless, over half of properties posted for sale in Dublin at the start of the year are now sold or sale agreed."

The full report is available from http://www.daft.ie/report and includes a commentary by Constantin Gurdgiev, Head of Research at St. Columbanus IA.