House prices down 40% since 2006

The average cost of a second-hand property in Dublin fell by a further 4 per cent in the final quarter of 2009, bring the total drop in prices to 21.5 per cent for the year.

According to new data from estate agents Sherry FitGerald, prices in the capital have fallen by 45.7 per cent in real terms since the peak of the market in 2006 and are now at 2003 levels.

Overall, the average cost of a second-hand property in Ireland declined by 4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2009, bringing the total yearly decline to 20.3 per cent. Nationally, house prices have fallen by 40.2 per cent over the past four years.

In Cork, prices were down by 20.2 per cent last year, the data shows.

According to Sherry Fitzgerald, first-time buyers bought 55 per cent of properties traded in 2009, compared to 38 per cent a year earlier.

"Transaction levels in the market were stronger than anticipated during the summer months, a trend which continued right through the autumn," said Marian Finnegan, chief economist with Sherry Fitzgerald.

"The stock of available second-hand properties is continuing to decline with limited new properties coming on the market in closing weeks of year. There is no doubt that the opening months of 2010 will bring its own challenges particularly as consumer digest the implications of the Budget however the first indications that the market is moving toward a more stable period are emerging."