House Prices Fall To 2002 Levels

House prices in Ireland have fallen back to 2002 levels, according to the latest Permanent TSB/ESRI figures. The average cost of a home is now €201,364 - down 35% from the peak of four years ago.

But the pace of decline is slowing down, and experts say they could be starting to level off.

House prices fell by 1.7% in the second three months of this year - the lowest quarterly reduction in two years.

Over the first six months of this year, prices fell by a total of 6.4%, but last year it fell 8.1% in the same period.

Niall O'Grady of Permanent TSB said, "This may indicate that prices are starting to find a more sustainable level after almost three and a half years of decline."

House prices in Dublin continue to fall more sharply than in the rest of the country.

Meanwhile, a state-funded academic institution has called for an independent inquiry into the property bubble.

The National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis said it would be foolhardy to carry out an inquiry into the banking crisis, without also looking into planning mistakes.

In a 66-page report the institute lays the blame for the property mess squarely at the feet of government and local councils, who they said favoured their friends and supporters in planning decisions.

It says there are now more than 300,000 unoccupied homes in Ireland, and that tax incentives made the problem a lot worse in several counties.

It believes that nationally there is enough land zoned for housing to last another 17 years - some areas have enough to last decades - for example it says Cork city has enough for 64 years.