House prices are continuing to rise with no sign of any appreciable slowdown in the pace of the increases, according to the latest Irish Permanent/ESRI House Price Index.

The index shows that nationally, house prices rose 1 per cent in October compared to a 0.5 per cent increase in September. In the year to October, house prices rose by 20.3 per cent nationally, compared to a 20.6 per cent rise in the year to September and 21.6 per cent in the year to August.

House prices in Dublin rose 1.7 per cent in October compared to just 0.4 per cent in September while outside the Dublin area the October rise was 0.9 per cent - up from 0.4 per cent in September.