Asking prices for homes in Ireland rose by just 0.72% in 2019, according to the latest property report from MyHome.ie and Davy.
In Dublin, asking prices were unchanged year-on-year - while in the rest of the country there was inflation of 1.4%.
That compares to a national asking price rise of 6.2% in 2018.
"The slowdown in house price inflation began in Dublin and has now spread out to the rest of the country," said Davy's chief economist Conall MacCoille.
He said that the Central Bank caps on the amount that can be borrowed are a significant driving force behind that shift.
"We know that, in Dublin, the median first time buyer is borrowing three and a half times their income, so they're right up against the treshold which the Central Bank has set," he said. "Two-thirds of the exemptions where you can go above three and a half percent are in Dublin."
"So we've reached the point, particularly in Dublin but also to some extent in the rest of the country, where affordability in stretched."
Hower Mr MacCoille said the slowdown in asking price inflation had been sharper than expected - with the uncertainty created by Brexit potentially to blame there.
That, he said, would help explain the significant cooling seen in the higher end of the market, as well as the 11% drop in homes listed and the 13% fall in new instructions to sell.
As there is now more clarity over Brexit, he hoped that the market would see an improvement again this year.
"I'd like to think this year will be a little bit more certain than last year," Mr MacCoille said. "We'll have at least 12 months before the next cliff-edge date and maybe that will mean that buyers and sellers, a bit more confident, will come back into the market a bit more aggressively."
According to the MyHome.ie report, the average national asking price is now €267,000.
In Dublin the average is €374,000, while in the rest of the country the average is €222,000.
Meanwhile, during the fourth quarter asking prices in the country fell by 0.45%.
