Property inflation above five per cent

Property inflation was of just over five and a half per cent in March, the National Statistics Office said.

The figure is based on the All-Property Price Index which reached 176.89 in March compared to 172.79 in the same month last year, resulting in a 12-month moving average inflation of 5.52 per cent. The index is based on prices of apartments, maisonettes and terraced houses. The base period is December 2001.

In the first quarter of this year, on average, the index was 6.83 per cent higher than in the same period last year.

Apartment prices alone are estimated to have increased by an average of 8.62 per cent compared to January-March 2007, while those for maisonettes went up by 7.11 per cent and terraced houses by 11.46 per cent.