Home prices increased by 6.2 per cent in the year to April but the rate of inflation slowed by 0.5 per cent compared with March, new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows.The data shows the rate of inflation was down from the 6.7 per cent in the year to March. The annual increase represents the lowest annual rise since February 2024, when the annual increase was also 6.2 per cent.Residential property prices in Dublin rose by 5.4 per cent, while they were 6.9 per cent higher outside the capital.Joanna Fitzpatrick, head of lending and client services with wealth advisor LHK Group, said the continued let-up in the rate of house price growth must be seen against the backdrop of the recent rate rise by the European Central Bank.“For the first-time buyers who have been struggling for years to get onto the property ladder, the higher mortgage costs now thrown into the mix may wipe out the benefits of slower house price growth, which will be hugely frustrating,” she said. “However, for perspective house buyers, there could be a silver lining to the cloud of ECB rate rises. As ECB rate rises restrict the amount that prospective buyers can borrow, this in turn can cool house prices. “So, the rate of house price growth in Ireland could ease off substantially in the coming months and indeed, if we enter a prolonged cycle of ECB rate tightening, Irish house prices could even start to fall.”Irish Mortgage Advisors chairman Trevor Grant said the easing of home price growth will likely continue over the coming months as summer is a quiet time for sales.“The rate of house price growth could ease off quite a bit between now and autumn,” he said. “The ongoing let-up in the rate of house price growth could be short-lived once autumn hits though as September and October are often busy months for house sales.”Irish Mortgage Advisors estimate house price inflation will be around 4 per cent this year, he said.The CSO data shows house prices in Dublin rose by 4.8 per cent while apartment prices increased by 7.3 per cent. The highest house price growth in Dublin was in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown at 5.9 per cent while Fingal saw a rise of 3.6 per cent.Outside of Dublin, house prices were up by 6.6 per cent and apartment prices rose by 9.7 per cent. The region outside of Dublin that saw the largest growth in house prices was the midlands area of Laois, Longford, Offaly, and Westmeath at 12.5 per cent.At the other end of the scale, the southwest region of Cork and Kerry saw a rise of just 4.1 per cent.Purchasers paid a median or mid-point price of €394,980 for a residential property in the 12 months to April. The highest median price paid for a dwelling was €685,750 in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, while the lowest was €197,000 in Longford.The most expensive Eircode area over the 12 months was A94 (Blackrock, Dublin) with a median price of €845,000, while F45 (Castlerea, Roscommon) had the least expensive median price of €155,000.Some 3,741 dwelling purchases by households at market prices were filed with the Revenue Commissioners in the month, which was a decrease of 0.2 per cent when compared with the 3,748 purchases in April last year. The total value of transactions filed in April 2026 was €1.63 billion. That was made up of 2,763 existing dwellings with a value of €1.14 billion, and 978 new dwellings with a value of €487.2 million.