Residential property prices were still rising, partly influenced by government measures to boost demand, the Central Bank reported.

Its ongoing survey of asking prices recorded an increase of 4.8 per cent in the second quarter of the year.

This was the seventh consecutive quarter of a strong year-on-year rise following a period of decline or weak growth. The increase in the first quarter of 2015 was 5.3 per cent.

The Central Bank said government measures, such as the Individual Investor Programme, which targets high net worth individuals, and a fiscal incentive for first-time buyers contributed to stimulate demand.

It added that the slight deceleration in the annual growth rate of property prices in the second quarter was due to a slowdown in prices for maisonettes. Price inflation for this type of property eased to 4.1 per cent from 10.4 per cent in the previous quarter.

This was partially offset by a pickup in the growth rate of apartment prices and “other” properties such as town houses and houses of character.

Asking prices for terraced houses fell by 2.6 per cent on their year-ago level, a significantly weaker decline than the 5.4 per cent recorded three months earlier.