The Irish Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) rose by 1.5% in November, up 8.6% on the year. With RPPI house price inflation now in double-digit territory across most regions of Ireland, a gain exceeding 10% in 2017 now looks like a distinct possibility.
Ireland’s tight housing market and robust economic recovery are already driving sharp price rises, with the government’s Help-to-Buy scheme and looser Central Bank lending rules likely to further stimulate house price inflation in 2017.
Irish house price inflation is now only in single-digit territory in Dublin (+5.6%), the mid-east commuter belt counties (+8.3%) and the border region (+8.7%). Across all other regions, house price inflation exceeds 10% –14.9% in the midlands, 16.7% in the west, 13.4% in the mid-west, 14.5% in the south-east and 12.9% in the south-west.
The process of catch-up in cheaper regions, where the recovery in house prices started later than in the capital, has been more aggressive than we expected in 2016.
According to Davy Stockbrokers, "House price inflation in Dublin has accelerated from a trough of 2.0% in June to 5.6% in November. Furthermore, the Dublin RPPI has risen by 3% in the last three months. More sedate house price inflation in the capital had been attributed to the Central Bank’s mortgage lending rules. However, the rules have now been relaxed. There are now no restrictions on the availability of 90% loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages to first-time buyers."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
