Irish house price growth slowed further in March to its lowest rate in two years, increasing 3.9% year-on-year compared to the most recent peak of 15.1% 12 months ago, Central Statistics Office data showed on Wednesday.

Prices fell 0.5% on the month, the third successive decrease. Before January, prices had not fallen month-on-month since May 2020, having returned last year to levels not seen since the credit-fuelled peak of 2007.

Recent data from Daft.ie and MyHome.ie, Ireland's main property listings sites, showed that asking prices fell 0.3% quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of the year, the first fall in a decade in the typically busy first quarter. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)