Before looking forward to 2016 it is prudent to briefly review the recent past as it is this that will shape the market in the year ahead. Overall 2015 was a year of price stability in the Dublin residential property market with property prices rising by a very modest 0.7% over the course of the year. However, this was on the back of two years of rapid double-digit price growth with prices rising by 18% in 2013 and over 23% in 2014, mainly as a result of an investor rush to purchase buy to let properties prior to the end of 2014 in order to qualify under the Government Capital Gains Tax exemption scheme.