The third quarter of 2016 has maintained the momentum of price rises experienced in the first half of the year, with this quarter witnessing the highest quarterly rise at 1.9% in residential property prices in the capital since the last quarter of 2014, equating to an annual rise of 4.4% over the last 12 months. The largest price increase in this three-month period was for property priced under €250,000 which rose by 2.7%. We believe that the reason for this is that many first-time buyers are competing for properties under the Central Bank threshold of €220,000 whereby first-time buyers can qualify for a 90% mortgage.