Irish average national house prices fell by -0.8% in February 2009, according to the latest edition of the permanent tsb/ESRI House Price Index, compared to decreases in January (-1.4%), December 2008 (-0.9%) and November 2008 (-0.5%).

Measuring the rate of growth in the 12 months to February, national prices were down by -9.7%, which is a slight improvement on January’s year-on-year figure. In the first two months of 2009 national house prices have fallen by -2.1% which compares to a reduction of -1.5% in the same period in 2008.

This means the average price paid for a house in Ireland in February 2009 was €255,999, compared with €261,573 in December and a peak of €311,078 in February 2007.