Dublin house prices up 4.2% in 2012

House prices in Dublin are showing tentative signs of recovery with latest figures showing an increase of 4.2 per cent so far this year.

However, while that jump can be seen as a partial return to health, the overall picture remains bleak with values still down 54 per cent on their peak 2007 levels.

The Residential Property Price Index figures for the month of November, released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) today, also reveal that Dublin based apartments have plummeted in value by 11 per cent to date in 2012.

And at a national level, residential properties have reduced in value by 5.7 per cent this year.

Rises and falls in specific areas of the country outside Dublin are not easy to calculate accurately due to the low level of sales.

There was a total of 2,752 property transactions recorded in November although not all of these represent full market value.

The performance of the housing sector is recorded on a monthly basis but the overall picture is best viewed towards the end of any given year, or as a year-by-year comparison.

The ‘year-to-date’ figures are likely to identify early signs of recovery across the market which has been decimated in the last five years.

“The good news has to start at some stage and it does take time to work its way through these [other] indicators,” said a CSO spokesperson.