THE AVERAGE ASKING price for a property in Ashbourne is now just under €250,000, according to the latest figures from Daft.ie.

Analysis across all homes advertised in the first three months of 2018 puts the average list price at €249,404.

This number is lower than the equivalent figure for other Meath commuter towns – Dunshaughlin’s average is €339,494 and Dunboyne, closer to the capital, is €354,476.

Elsewhere in the commuter belt the same applies. The average asking price in Maynooth is €341,173, while to the south in Rathcoole it is €289,227.

Asking prices in Ashbourne rose only slowly last year, up by 2.9 per cent year on year to the first quarter of 2018. However, the previous year registered a dramatic increase of 12.7 per cent.

During the Celtic Tiger, homes in Ashbourne hit a peak of almost €390,000 in 2006. Prices then dipped to an average of €151,000 during the recession in 2012.