The number of Irish homeowners in arrears for more than 90 days fell to 6% at the end of December from 6.2% three months earlier, the lowest level in eight years, central bank data showed on Thursday.

Accounts in deep arrears over 720 days also continued to fall, the central bank said and represented 44% of all accounts in arrears. However at 2.3 billion euros, they accounted for 88 percent of all arrears balances outstanding.

Irish annual house price growth cooled further in January to 5.6% compared with a rate more than twice that a year ago as prices in Dublin rose by just 1.9%, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said on Thursday.

A spectacular housing bust saw house prices in Ireland fall by more than 50% from their 2007 peak, but after six years of growth, they are now 18.4% below that peak.

Inflation across the economy remains muted, however, with separate CSO data showing consumer prices grew by 0.6% in the year to February, down from 0.7% in the previous month. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie