Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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226. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on the 8.5% increase in house prices, as indicated in a report (details supplied) published on 4 January 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1104/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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According to the latest Daft.ie House Price Report, the average asking price for residential property increased by 8.5% in the year to the fourth quarter of 2015. However, significant regional differences exist particularly as between the Dublin region and the rest of the country. Outside of Dublin, asking prices grew by 13% on an annual basis while the rate of growth in Dublin has continued to moderate, falling from almost 25% in mid-2014 to below 3% by the end of 2015.   

Changes in property prices reflect a range of interrelated factors on both the demand and supply side of the property market. The strong economic recovery and in particular the increase in employment has brought about a strong increase in the demand for housing. However, owing to a number of constraining factors, the supply response has been sluggish to date, in turn contributing to recent price developments.  

The Government has taken an active role in addressing the ongoing issues in the housing and rental market. Most recently, Minister Kelly and I announced the Rent Certainty and Housing Supply package, agreed by Government, which is designed to stabilise the rental market in the short run and support the sustainable growth in the housing market over the long term. In terms of specific measures intended to increase housing supply, the package includes changes to planning guidelines and standards, support for housing-enabling infrastructure and a targeted rebate of development contributions for housing supplied below certain price levels in Dublin and Cork where supply constraints are most binding.

This package builds upon Construction 2020 Strategy: A Strategy for A Renewed Construction Sector which sets out the Government's overall strategic approach to increasing housing supply. Under this Strategy, important progress have been made to date in addressing issues including the planning system, development finance, industry capacity and skill constraints and construction costs. The actions taken under Construction 2020 are complemented by the ongoing implementation of the Social Housing Strategy and the plans by NAMA for the construction of 20,000 residential units by 2020.