Residential property prices in Ireland rose by 1% nationally in the 12 months to February 2020, new figures show. This compares to a 1.1% increase in the year to January and a 4.3% rise in the 12 months to February 2019.

New data from the Irish Central Statistics Office revealed that residential prices fell by 0.1% in Dublin in the year to February. House prices were unchanged while apartments rose by 0.8%. Property prices outside Dublin were 2.4% higher over the 12 months with houses up 2.5% and apartments rising by 0.5%.

However, while prices nationally have increased by 83.1% from their trough in early 2013, they are still 17.9% lower than their peak in 2007. In Dublin, property prices are 22.1% lower than their peak but up 93% from their weakest point. Outside the capital, prices are 21.1% lower than their 2007 high but have risen 81.5% versus the trough.

Austin Hughes, chief economist with KBC, said the data confirmed that before the COVID-19 crisis, property price inflation had effectively bottomed out. He added: “In the coming months, the effective shutdown of the Irish economy means housing market activity will be very limited and house price data will be based on very limited transactions.”