Irish Property-Dublin Rises up as the rest keep falling.

The outlook for property prices in Ireland is starting to improve three new surveys show – with Dublin leading the way.

One survey, from property website Daft.ie says Dublin property prices in Dublin rose 5.3% year-on-year with prices in the south now up by 12% in the first six months of the year.

Meanwhile, the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show prices have fallen 1.1% in the last year across the country but have risen in Dublin by 1.3%.

Dublin City

Another report from website MyHome.ie says asking prices in Dublin have risen for the first time since 2007, up 1% on a year ago.

Economist Ronan Lyons, of Daft, says the Dublin market is surging ahead of the rest of the country.

“This is certainly the first time such rapid growth in asking prices has been recorded anywhere in the country for almost six years. The underlying cause is a lack of supply in the capital, while demand has steadily been rising.”

Compare the latest figures with the decline of 15.3% in the 12 months to May 2012 reported by the CSO and it is plain to see how much the market has improved. The increase follows a larger 0.8% rise in April.

In Dublin, residential property prices grew 0.5% in May. House prices grew 0.5%, up 1.3% higher compared to a year earlier and apartment prices in the city were 1.2% lower on May 2012. The apartment figures are based on low volumes and so are open to greater volatility.

The price of residential properties in the rest of Ireland grew by 0.1% in May, the same rate as May last year. Prices were 2.8% lower than in May 2012.

House prices still have a long way to go to reach the highs of 2007 and Dublin prices are 55% lower than at their peak.

The fall in the price of residential properties in the Rest of Ireland is 48%. Overall, the national index is 50% lower than its highest level in 2007.

The figures from Daft show the fastest price rise since the first three months of 2007, just before the property market crashed.

Although prices outside Dublin are falling – 9% lower than this time last year – the rate of decline has slowed sharply from an average of 15% in 2012.

The average property price is €193,000 and the supply of properties for sale is now at its lowest level since the middle of 2007.