NEW research has revealed the most and least expensive places in Ireland to buy a home.
The average price of a house in Ireland is now €230,000 (£196,000), according to the data compiled by Irish property website Daft.ie.
Prices rose by an average of 4.3 per cent in the first three months of this year – the largest increase in two years.
House prices in Galway and Limerick Cities have risen by over 16 per cent, while ever-expensive Dublin has seen a jump of nearly 9 per cent.
Wicklow was named Ireland's most expensive place to buy a home outside of Dublin. Picture: Daft.ieMeanwhile, the massive drop in the number of properties for sale in Ireland has continued.
Just 20,500 homes were on the market in March, down from almost 24,000 this time last year.
The amount of Irish homes currently on the market is the lowest since October 2006 and is down two-thirds from its peak of 63,000 in October 2008 – on the eve of the financial crash.
Longford, Leitrim and Sligo are the cheapest places to buy a home in Ireland. Picture: Daft.ieRonan Lyons, economist at Trinity College Dublin and author of the Daft.ie Report, said: "The combined effect of the tweaks to Central Bank mortgage rules and the new help-to-buy scheme has been to significantly stimulate first-time buyer demand.
“This is seen in renewed house price growth, particularly in and around the major cities.
"While there may have been a political motive to these measures, it is important now that the chronic lack of construction activity becomes the main focus for policymakers."
House prices have risen extraordinarily in recent years. Picture: Daft.ie