THIS WEEK THE new Daft.ie housing report was released, showing what property is worth around the country.

While some slight increases were seen – it seems the days of double-digit percentage jumps in house prices are over.

There was also the good news that the government could be set to cap the property tax.

The Big Movers

Cheapest place to buy a home in Ireland

The new Daft.ie housing report showed that the difference in house prices between the capital and the rest of the country is beginning to shrink. 

Daft.ie Daft.ie

Nationwide, the asking price for properties rose by 4.6% while property in Dublin only went up by 2.9%. In Galway, Cork and Limerick prices went up by 6.8%, 7.2% and 6.7% respectively.

The average advertised price nationwide is now €201,000, up from a low of €170,000 in the middle of 2013.

Are we paying over the odds for property? 

To get a better understanding of the figures TheJournal.ie spoke to Ronan Lyons, economist with Trinity College Dublin and Daft.ie, about whether people were back to paying too much for property.

It was said that it is difficult to estimate an ‘equilibrium price’ that property should settle at – but due to the Central Bank rules that tie house prices to income changes – prices in Dublin probably shouldn’t rise much further.

Under Construction

• This week the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation suggested that local councils should supplement housing repayments for distressed households. 
• It was revealed by Tánaiste Joan Burton that the government could be set to cap Property Tax.  

Photocall Ireland The Tánaiste in Dublin earlier this week Photocall Ireland

• A scheme put in place by former Environment Minister Phil Hogan to repair properties damaged by pyrite has only managed to fix five homes.    
• There was a lot of talk of Irish Water this week with the first bills being sent out. If elected to government, Sinn Féin claim they will scrap the charge entirely.  

Des Res

This ghost town in Connecticut is on the market for $2.4 million (€2.23 million) after the original winning bidder disappeared. Many of the buildings in the town date from the 1800s but are in pretty bad condition, according to Business Insider.