The latest Irish Permanent House Price Index shows that house prices rose by 4.4% in 2001, following annual growth of 21.3% in 2000.
Nationally, house prices fell by 0.8% in December, the fourth consecutive drop. Prices dropped by a total of 2.3% in the final quarter of 2001.
House prices in Dublin fell by 1.4%, the largest the index has recorded, in December, according to the survey, which is compiled in association with the ESRI. For the year as a whole, Dublin prices were up 4.4%, while growth outside Dublin was 5.1%.
Irish Permanent's head of marketing Niall O'Grady said the incentives given to residential investors in the Budget already seemed to be having an impact this year. He said the key question was how significant this would be over the full year.
In December, prices for first-time buyers fell by 1.4%, while the drop for second-time buyers was 0.3%. Over the year, both sectors recorded a rise of 4.4%.
New house prices were up by 6.6% in 2001. Second-hand houses rose by 2%. For December, new house prices were down 0.4%, while second-hand prices dropped by 1.4%.
