Irish first time buyers pay out 250k

Figures from PermanentTSB and ESRI in Ireland have showed that the average price of a house for first-time buyers passed the 250k euro mark for the first time in January.

According to the Permanent TSB/ESRI house price index, house prices rose by 1.2% in January, similar to the increases recorded in the final three months of 2005. Annual rate of growth during the month also increased from 9.3% in December to 10.2%.

The price of a home for first-time buyers went up by 0.7% with the average price paid now at ?251,281.

Regionally, house prices in Dublin rose by 1.2%, while growth was 1.5% outside of the Dublin area. For first-time buyers, the annual rate of house price growth was 13.9%. Whilst for other buyers, it was 9.6%.

PermanentTSB/ESRI said that both new and existing house prices both rose by 1% in January. Over the year, new houses were up 10.7%, while second-hand prices increased by 8.8%.

Permanent TSB’s Niall O’Grady said that the figures were consistent with its forecast of 10% house price growth for 2006.