September 5, 2000. Copyright 2000. Graphic News. All rights reserved.

IRELAND PROPERTY PRICES ROCKET

LONDON, September 5, Graphic News: PRICES of residential and commercial property have risen in almost all the worldÕs big cities over the last five years, according to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

ÒWhile inflation-adjusted house prices rose by nine percent between 1995 and 1999 in the United States, increases exceeded 25 percent in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom,Ó the BIS said.

In Ireland the trend was more startling. Home prices on an inflation-adjusted basis were up 76 percent in the same period.

Most spectacularly, commercial real estate, traditionally a more volatile market, has shown even stronger gains than residential housing.

Amsterdam, Stockholm and major cities in the United States recorded price increases of more than 40 percent over the last four years, while prices in Madrid doubled.

Dublin -- riding the crest of IrelandÕs six-year boom -- reported the largest increases, with inflation-adjusted commercial real-estate prices up by more than 170 percent between 1995 and 1999.
/ENDS
Sources: Bank for International Settlements, Reuters, The Economist