House prices in Ireland fell for the 12th month in a row in February, bringing the total decline compared to a year earlier to 8.8%, according to the Permanent tsb/ESRI House Price Index.

Prices fell on average by 0.8% in February compared with a drop of 0.7% the previous month, marking a slower fall than in late 2007 when they fell more than 1% in each of the last three months of the year. The average price paid for a house in February was €283,650, compared with €287,887 in December 2007.

Niall O’Grady, head of marketing with Permanent tsb bank, said: “I think the rate of price decreases over the first two months of the year are lower than many people might have expected. We are also seeing that some sellers are finally grasping the point that people are interested in buying properties if the prices sought are realistic.”

House prices, which more than quadrupled in the decade after the Irish economy began to boom in the late 1990’s, started falling in March 2007 for the first time in five years.