Sherry FitzGerald has announced that the average value of residential properties in Ireland rose by 1.9% during the first quarter of 2017.

In Dublin a quarterly increase of 1.8% was recorded, that's up from a corresponding figure of 0.7% last year.

The fastest growth was seen in Galway where prices were up by 2.4%, homes in Limerick were 1.9% more expensive and Cork registered an increase of 1.8%.

Marian Finnegan, Chief Economist with Sherry FitzGerald commented, "The notable increase in price inflation reflects both an uplift in demand and a substantial depletion in available supply in the market. Our latest analysis of the stock of property advertised for sale, reveals the stock of available property throughout the entire country has fallen to a historically low level."

Taking stock...

Sherry FitzGerald's report found that the stock of property advertised for sale on the open market in January 2017 fell to 22,100 units.

That is down from 26,600 units advertised for sale across the country in January of last year - which is a 17% reduction. Just 1.2% of the total private housing stock is currently listed for sale.

In Dublin, the reduction in supply is even more severe. 2,800 properties were advertised for sale in January 2017, representing 0.6% of Dublin’s private housing stock. That's a 30% year-on-year reduction.

"The outturn for the opening quarter is not at all surprising. Supported by a growing economy and a notable relaxation in the previously severe macro-prudential rules, demand strengthened, most particularly in Dublin.

"The limited ability of supply to respond to this increase in demand, has led to a period of heightened price inflation in Dublin, a trend which is likely to continue for the remainder of the year,"  Ms Finnegan added.