CASH buyers of properties pay less, a new official survey shows.
Prices rose by 6.7pc in the year to July, the Central Statistics Office said.
The CSO had revamped its property price index to include cash purchases for the first time.
It indicates that Dublin 6, which includes Dartry and Rathgar, has the most expensive houses at an an average price of €694,000.
Castlerea in Roscommon had the cheapest properties at an average price of €72,300.
Prices are recovering fast in the Midlands, with a rise of almost 20pc on the last year.
In Dublin prices were up by close to 4pc.
CSO statistics expert Gregg Patrick said including cash buyers in its index meant the new figures show a slightly lower rise in prices on the last year.
But including cash buyers shows prices have recovered faster since the low point of 2013.
“What we can say is that cash buyers pay less for properties than people buying with a mortgage.”
The picturesque port town of Kinsale in Co Cork saw the largest rise in property prices this year.
Average prices shot up by 40pc to €359,000 last year, according to a new detailed property index from the Central Statistics.
The rise in prices in Kinsale, a regular winner of the Tidy Towns competition, was more than €100,000 between July this year and the same month last year.
Dunboyne in Co Mealth recorded the second highest price rise, with a surge of 33.3pc in the year to €355,000, or a rise of almost €89,000.
But the biggest price fall was found by the CSO to be in Cahir, Co Tipperary. Prices fell by €20,000 in the year to €105,000, a fall of 16pc.
In New Ross, Co Wexford, average prices fell by 11pc, or €3,000, to €119,000.
The most expensive local authority area in the State to buy a house is the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area of Co Dublin where in 2015 buyers paid an average of €568,980.
The least expensive countye to buy a house in 2015 was Co Longford, where the average price paid was just €79,660.
The most expensive houses in the State are in Dublin 6, which includes Dartry and Rathgar, with an average price of €694,000 this year.
Apartment prices rose by 7.4pc in the year to July.
Residential property prices are now 35pc lower than at their highest level which was achieved in April 2007.
Fewer houses and apartments were sold last year than the previous year. This reverses the trend seen in 2013, 2014 and last year.
In the year to July, a total of 36,785 properties were sold.
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