A new report on the property market says worries about the possibility of a sharp fall in house prices have faded.
The survey of consumer sentiment towards housing was carried out last month by IIB Bank and the ESRI. It followed a similar study in August 2003.
The survey showed that the number of people expecting a 'substantial decline' in property prices had fallen from 2% to 0.5% in the six months.
IIB and the ESRI believe this reflects the resilience of the housing market and signs of an improvement in the Irish economy.
The study finds that Irish consumers expect house prices to rise by around 5.5% in the next 12 months. This is much lower than the current rate of over 13%.
It also finds that the average mortgage represents about 73% of the price of a house, with a significant proportion of loans of 85%. IIB and the ESRI say the results suggest that the overall burden of borrowing has not increased markedly recently.
