The Irish property market will continue to stabilise next year before picking up slightly in 2015 - that is according to ratings agency Standard and Poors.
In a report on the European housing market, S&P said there is "anecdotal" evidence that Dublin is experiencing stock shortages, and that continued economic recovery in 2014 and 2015 should support demand for housing.
S&P said though, that the recovery may be slow because of the high number of mortgages in arrears and "supply overhang" in some areas.
The agency said it expects unemployment to slowly decline to 13.1% in 2015 from 14.7% in 2012.
It said that indicators like price-to-income and price-to-rent ratios are around their long-term averages, which supports its view that prices have reached a floor and are stabilising.
S&P also said that the Central Bank's revised code on mortgage arrears could make it easier for banks to repossess homes and that this could curb the nascent pickup in house prices by increasing the number of properties on the market.
