Irish house prices fell 3.4% in the second quarter and 7% in H1 2010, according to the latest Property Barometer issued by property website, MyHome.ie.

The latest fall  --  the 14th consecutive declining quarter - - brings the total decline from the peak in Q4 2006 to almost 30%. This is an average and prices in categories such as apartments and the upper-end of the market may may have experienced falls of over 50%. 

According to MyHome.ie, the survey shows that there are some signs that the 3 bed market in Dublin is stabilising. An analysis of newly added stock in Dublin shows that the asking price for 3 bed terraced houses has increased by 4% while the asking price for newly listed 3 bed semis has increased by half a percentage point.

The average asking price for a home nationally is now €291,278 compared to €301,449 three months ago and €337,600 twelve months ago.

In Dublin asking prices overall fell by 4.5% bringing the total fall over the last 12 months to 17%. Prices in the capital have now fallen by 36% since their peak. The average asking price for a house in Dublin now stands at €339,600 down from €355,700 in Q1 and €409,450 twelve months ago.

New homes saw a higher fall compared to second hand homes during Q2, new homes falling by 4.2% compared to 3.3% for second hand homes. The average price of a new home now stands at €259,800 while that of a second hand home is €295,700. Both these sectors are down 30% since the peak of the market when the corresponding prices were €369,200 and €423,000.

Limerick city saw the biggest decrease of the main urban centres, with the median asking price falling 7.3% to €222,500, down from €240,000 three months ago. In Cork the median price fell by 5% to €275,00 (down from €289,500 in Q1 while in Galway the fall was more in line with the national figure at 3.6% giving a median price of €265,000.

Commenting on the results, independent economist Paul Murgatroyd said that while prices are continuing to fall, further evidence is emerging that some sectors are starting to show signs of price stabilisation.

‘At the start of the year we forecast that prices would decline by around 10% on average during 2010 with the majority of the decrease coming in the first half of the year and that appears to be what’s happening. The second half of this year will give us a clear indication of the timeframe for a definitive bottoming of the market’ he said.

Angela Keegan, Managing Director of MyHome.ie said the findings re-enforced her belief that the Dublin three bedroom house market is likely to be the first to show signs of ‘bottoming out’ in terms of asking prices.

‘The fact that the price of newly listed 3 bed terraced houses in Dublin has risen by 4% and that the price of 3 bed semis are also up marginally supports this view. Conversely the price of newly listed 1 and 2 bed apartments fell by over 9% in the same period and this is reflected in a number of recent firesales. First time buyers are now looking for larger properties and this trend looks set to continue’ she said.