DUBLIN: Irish home property price grew 15% in the year to September 2014, compared to a euro zone average of 0.5%.
Estonia had the second highest rate of growth in the period, up 13.2% year-on-year, while both Britain and Latvia recorded growth of 11.7%.
The largest falls in house prices were in Slovenia, which recorded a drop of 5.4%, and Italy, where prices were down by 3.8%.
Ireland also saw the biggest rise on a quarterly basis, with home prices growing by 6.2% between June and September 2014.
That was closely followed by a 4.9% rise in Latvian prices, while prices in Slovenia fell by 1.1% in the same quarter.
The figures come as the Central Bank prepares to introduce new limits on mortgage lending, which it says will help to reduce the risk of a credit-driven bubble in the property market.
The authority had proposed a minimum deposit of 20% and a maximum loan-to-value ratio of 3.5 times a borrowers’ annual income for future lending.
It is currently reviewing submissions on these proposals and is expected to publish an updated framework in the coming days.
However the initial Central Bank proposals have been met with opposition from lenders and politicians, with Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly today describing them as “ridiculous”.
Speaking in Galway this morning, Mr Kelly said he thought that a requirement to have 20% of the overall price as a deposit was excessive.
He said this was a personal view but that it reflected the opinions of many of his Labour Party colleagues.
