Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 4 May 2016
47. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Finance the degree to which he monitors house property prices, with particular reference to the need to ensure that such prices do not become a major governing economic influence as in the past; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8922/16]
View answerAccording to the Central Statistics Office's Residential Property Price Index, the price of residential property increased by 0.3 per cent nationally between February and March. Over the month of March, property prices increased by 0.9 per cent in Dublin and decreased by 0.2 per cent outside of Dublin.
On an annual basis, national property prices increased by 7.4 per cent in March 2016, compared with annual growth of 16.8 per cent over the same period in 2015. The moderation in property price growth has been driven by price developments in Dublin. In the 12 months to March 2016, the growth in Dublin property prices was 3.9 per cent, compared with growth of 22.8 per cent over the same period in 2015.
I wish to assure the Deputy that my Department continues to monitor developments in the property market, including house prices. The Government remains committed to addressing the outstanding bottlenecks in the housing market. In this regard the 'Stabilising Rents and Boosting Supply' package, announced in November 2015, includes a number of measures to support sustainable growth in housing supply and provide greater stability in the rental market over the short run. The package of measures builds upon and complements the Government's overall strategic approach to addressing bottlenecks in the housing market as set out in 'Construction 2020: A Strategy for A Renewed Construction Sector'.
