Asking prices for houses have fallen by 3.4% so far this year - the smallest quarterly fall in almost two years, according to property website Daft.ie.
Its latest report said the national average asking price last month was €234,000, €120,000 or 33% below the peak in 2007.
In Galway, prices fell by over 8% in the first three months of the year, while in Dublin, Wicklow, Waterford and Cork the falls were more in line with the average of 3.4%. It now takes, on average, 10 months to sell a house.
Price falls in early 2010 were largest in Dublin's commuter counties, Galway city and North County Dublin. The report says that prices in Louth have seen some of the largest falls in the last three years, with the typical property now €200,000.
Daft.ie says that while prices continue to fall, and the total number of houses on the market is high, there is a steady decrease in the number of houses on the market.
New home starts down almost 70%
Separate figures from home guarantee scheme Homebond show that the number of new homes registered in March fell by almost 70% compared with the same month last year. Homebond said just 131 homes were registered in the month, compared with 422 a year earlier.
The Homebond figures are seen as an indicator of future housing activity. Homebond is the bigger of two companies which provide registration figures, the other being Premier.
Just 10 new homes were registered in Dublin in the month, with 29 in Cork. There were no new homes at all registered in four counties.
