New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that annual residential property price inflation eased slightly to 6.5% in March from 6.7% in February.
The rate of house price growth in March is the lowest annual increase since February 2024 when the annual rate of growth was 6.2%.
Today's figures show that property prices outside Dublin were up by 7.2% in March compared with the same time last year, while property prices in Dublin rose by 5.7%.
In the 12 months to March, the CSO said that house prices in Dublin grew by 5.1% while apartment prices increased by 7.8%.
It noted that the highest house price growth in Dublin was in Dublin City at 6% while Fingal saw a rise of 3.4%.
Outside of Dublin, house prices were up by 6.8% and apartment prices jumped by 12%.
The region outside of Dublin that saw the largest growth in house prices was the Midlands (Laois, Longford, Offaly, and Westmeath) at 13.4%, while at the other end of the scale, the South-West (Cork and Kerry) saw a rise of just 3.6%.
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Today's figures show that the median price of a home bought in the 12 months to March was €390,461.
The highest median price was €685,000 in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, while the lowest median price was €200,000 in both Donegal and Longford.
Meanwhile, the most expensive Eircode area over the 12 months to March was A94 (Blackrock, Dublin) with a median price of €845,000, while F45 (Castlerea, Roscommon) had the cheapest median price of €150,500.
A total of 4,123 home purchases were filed with the Revenue Commissioners at a total value of €1.80 billion in March, the CSO said. These purchases were made up of 3,131 existing homes and 992 new homes.
There were 1,664 first-time buyer purchases in March, the CSO added.
Property prices nationally have increased by 178.8% from their trough in early 2013, the CSO said.
Dublin residential property prices have risen by 172.2% from their February 2012 low, while residential property prices in the Rest of Ireland are 194% higher than their trough in May 2013.
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Trevor Grant, chairperson of Irish Mortgage Advisors, said that house completions for the first three months of this year were at their highest level for that time of year as they have been in the last 15 years.
He said that if this momentum in house building continues, house price inflation should continue to ease and homes should hopefully become more affordable for the many who have been priced out of the market so far.
"Ultimately, the biggest driver of Irish house price inflation is the shortage of homes coupled with the pent-up demand for housing and an expanding population and so, the more houses that are built, the better the prospects for would-be buyers," Mr Grant said.
But he said that while the progress in house completions is positive, the crisis in the Middle East is a major wildcard for the Irish housing market and prospective house buyers.
"With the Middle East crisis rumbling on and soaring energy costs continuing to push up inflation in the euro zone, an ECB rate hike this June is all but inevitable," he said.
"So, would-be house buyers need to be mindful of the potential for increased mortgage borrowing costs this year - and to factor that into any mortgage decision they make," he cautioned.
"Would-be house buyers also need to be mindful of the possible knock-on impact of the Middle East crisis on Irish house prices - because recent and ongoing surge in oil prices could drive building materials inflation even higher and in turn, further push up house building costs and Irish house prices," he added.
