A new report from the Irish Banking Federation (IBF) says the property market is showing signs of a stabilisation.

The IBF Housing Market Monitor for the second quarter of the year says the number of houses and apartments listed for sale are up by 3.8%.

There has been an 8% rise in transactions with mortgage approvals almost 10% higher. Although loan drawdowns are up by just 0.7%.

The monitor shows the following in the second quarter of this year, compared to the same period in 2012:

• increase in the number of properties listed for sale
• 8% increase in the number of housing market transactions
• 9.7% increase in the level of mortgage approvals and a smaller 0.7% in the level of drawdowns

It says that Dublin and Leinster remain key drivers behind these trends "with improving activity levels primarily reflecting a more positive Dublin market".

The IBF adds that "a more positive view of the outlook for the market, reflected in people’s price expectations, will translate into increasing demand for homeownership".

It concludes that stabilisation of the housing market is in-keeping with the evidence emerging of a slow improvement in the economic outlook for Ireland.

"Although uncertainty remains about the international economic outlook, an increasing number of economic indicators are showing improvement rather than continued decline. Many of these relate to factors that underpin the housing market" it adds.

David Duffy carried out an analysis of the IBF report. He says the price rises are being driven by the Dublin market.