Buying

First-time buyers

The average price of a house for first-time buyers passed the €250,000 mark for the first time in January, with first time buyers paying 0.7% more in the month.

According to the latest Permanent TSB/ESRI house price index, house prices overall rose by 1.2% in January, which was similar to the increases recorded in the final three months of 2005. On a yearly basis. growth in January picked up to 10.2% from 9.3% in December.

The price of houses for first-time buyers was up 0.7% in January, with the average price paid now at €251,281.
House prices in Dublin rose by 1.2%, while growth was 1.5% outside Dublin. The annual rates were 11% and 10.6% respectively. For first-time buyers, the annual rate of growth was 13.9%. For second-time buyers, it was 9.6%, with a 1.5% increase in January.
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%.

The same relative position was evident in December '05 when growth of 1.3% and 1.5% was recorded outside Dublin and Commuter counties, while Dublin growth was 0.8%.

The average price paid for a house in Dublin and outside Dublin in January 2006 was €373,096 and €243,826 respectively. The equivalent prices in December 2005 were €368,576 and €240,201.
 
House prices in the commuter counties of Dublin (Louth, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow) grew by 1.9% in January 2006, compared to 0.4% in January 2005.
 
Niall O'Grady, Head of Marketing, permanent tsb bank said: "National house prices at the start of 2006 have continued to grow at the same pace as was witnessed in the final months of last year, with some variations on this across the different market sectors. The year on year growth rate of 10.2% is consistent with our forecast of annual growth of around 10% for this year."

Average Price of House Nationally compared with the Average Price paid by First-time Buyers: