By: Padraic Halpin
DUBLIN: Irish property prices rose by 0.6 percent month-on-month in January to keep annual growth steady at 7.9 percent following the first monthly fall in almost a year at the end of 2016, the central statistics office said on Friday.
House price growth has begun to accelerate again in recent months amid a sharp lack of supply following a recovery from a property crash. An easing of central bank lending rules and a new government subsidy also saw mortgage approvals surge in January.
Prices in Dublin, where the recovery began, were 5.3 percent higher year-on-year, while the rest of the country was up 11.3 percent. National prices are on average 31.8 percent below the peak hit a decade ago at the height of the property bubble. (Editing by Alison Williams)
Source: Reuters