Property prices up 13.5 per cent

The all-property prices index reached 143.04 in the first quarter of this year, 13.48 per cent higher than in the same period last year.

At 132.49 in March 2005, the index for apartments increased by 32.49 per cent since December 2000.

The National Statistics Office said that in the first quarter this year, apartment prices were, on average, estimated to have increased by 14.19 per cent when compared to the same period in 2004.

Over the same period, prices for maisonettes were estimated to have increased by about 18.62 per cent and prices for terraced houses by 17.34 per cent.

In March, property prices inflation as calculated through the all-property prices index was estimated at 13.86 per cent. The inflation rates for apartments, maisonettes and terraced houses stood at 15.90, 18.46 and 13.22 per cent respectively.