Residential property prices nationwide rose by 16.3% in the year to December, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show.
This marked the nineteenth annual increase in a row and the pace of growth was up slightly from the year-on-year rise of 16.2% seen in November. It also matched the highest growth level since September 2006.
The CSO said that residential property prices rose by 0.4% in December from November. This compares with an increase of 0.5% in November and a rise of 0.3% in December 2013.
In Dublin, residential property prices grew by 0.2% in December while they were 22.3% higher than a year ago.
Today's figures show that Dublin house prices increased by 0.3% in the month, while they were 22.5% higher than in December 2013.
Dublin apartment prices were 21% higher in December of this year compared to the previous year.
The price of residential properties in the rest of the country rose by 0.7% in December, while they were 10.2% higher on an annual basis.
The CSO figures do not include cash buyers, which account for about one in three of every housing transaction.
Despite the improvement in house prices over the last year or so, Dublin house prices are still 35.6% lower than at their highest level in early 2007.
Residential property prices for the whole of Ireland remain 37.6% off their peak of almost eight years ago.
Commenting on today's figures, Merrion economist Alan McQuaid noted that a lack of supply of houses is pushing up prices, particularly in the Dublin area, but it is not something that can be rectified overnight.
Mr McQuaid said the latest planning permissions data showed a sharp rise in the third quarter, indicating that things may be starting to improve on this front, which should help to reduce the increase in house prices over time.
"The new lending restrictions imposed by the Central Bank are also likely to weigh negatively on buyers and help to push down house price growth in 2015," he added.
Goodbody economist Dermot O'Leary also said that the new mortgage caps to be introduced by the Central Bank are expected to have a dampening effect on the market, albeit not as bad as initially feared.
"However, with mortgage approvals under the old regime in place for six months, it could be some months before we see the actual impact in the official numbers. In this regard, it could be a year of two halves for the housing market," Mr O'Leary added.
