House prices now rising faster than anywhere in eurozone

(Stock photo)

Charlie Weston

Property prices in Ireland are rising the fastest in the eurozone - and outstripping almost all other European Union countries.

Prices shot up 12pc from July to September last year.

The only country in the EU seeing a faster rise in values is the Czech Republic, with the eastern European nation witnessing a 12.3pc increase. The hikes were in comparison with the same quarter in 2016 and Ireland's increase easily outpaced averages of 4.1pc across the eurozone and 4.6pc in the EU.

Italy was the only country to record a fall, with a drop of almost 1pc, according to the latest Eurostat figures.

The fastest growth in the Irish market occurred in the summer months from July to September, when prices boomed by almost 6pc compared with the previous quarter.

And indications are that runaway price rises are set to continue.

The most recent figures from the Central Statistics Office show prices raced upwards by 11.6pc in November compared with the same month a year previously.

This was a slight slowdown on the 12.1pc rise the month before.

Prices nationally have risen by nearly 72pc since the trough in early 2013.

Double-digit price rises are being driven by strong demand and chronic shortages.

But John McCartney, director of research at Savills Ireland, said there remained a risk that the market could become flooded. He said current housing requirement estimates were being exaggerated, warning that too many houses might be built if more realistic targets weren't considered.

Dr McCarthy commented that housing demand estimates were being predicated on shaky data.

"I see no cogent evidence of the need for 40,000 new houses per year," he said.