Irish Housing Market Stabilizing

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Average prices of second-hand homes in the Republic of Ireland dropped a further 4% in the fourth quarter, bringing the total drop in prices to 20.3% during 2009, but the slump in the housing market maybe beginning to stabilize, the country's largest real estate firm Sherry Fitzgerald said on Monday.

According to firm, the average price of a second-hand property in Dublin fell by 4% in the final quarter of the year, bringing the total drop in prices to 21.5% during 2009. From the peak of the market in 2006, Dublin house prices have fallen 45.7%.

House prices in Cork dropped 3.9% in the fourth quarter, bringing the results for the year to minus 20.2%.

"Transaction levels in the market were stronger than anticipated during the summer months, a trend which continued right through the autumn," said Marian Finnegan, chief economist at Sherry Fitzgerald.

"The stock of available second-hand properties is continuing to decline with limited new properties coming on the market in the closing weeks of the year. There is no doubt that the opening months of 2010 will bring its own challenges particularly as consumers digest the implications of the Budget.

"However, the first indications that the market is moving towards a more stable period are emerging," she added.

Average prices of second-hand homes in the Republic of Ireland dropped a further 4% in the fourth quarter, bringing the total drop in prices to 20.3% during 2009, but the slump in the housing market maybe beginning to stabilize, the country's largest real estate firm Sherry Fitzgerald said on Monday. (Market News Provided by RTTNews)