The latest Daft.ie House Price Report found that the average cost of a property in the City is now €175,000.

Throughout County Waterford, prices in the final quarter of this year were 7% higher than a year previously at an average of €218,000.

Waterford remains the cheapest Irish city in which to buy a house, however the percentage increase in cost over the past year was the second greatest behind Limerick.

In Dublin, prices rose by 2.9% during 2018, compared to an increase of 11.7% in 2017. In the other cities, however, inflation in housing prices in 2018 was comparable to 2017.

Prices in Cork rose by 5.8% in 2018, compared to 5.1% in 2017, while in Galway city, prices rose by 6.3% compared to 8.1% a year earlier.

In Limerick inflation picked up – increases of 9.8% in 2018 versus 6.9% in 2017.

Commenting on the figures, Ronan Lyons, economist at Trinity College Dublin and author of the Daft.ie Report, said: “During the 2000’s bubble and crash, the laws of supply and demand were secondary in the housing market to credit market shocks. Not least because of the Central Bank’s mortgage rules, the market this decade has returned to the more fundamental drivers of supply and demand.”

“Since 2013, demand has been strong but supply weak. The increase in homes being built – especially estate houses – in the last 18 months, though, has helped cool down inflation, in particular in the Greater Dublin area, where construction activity is focused. The hope for the housing system is that the building of new homes continues to increase, and to spread to other urban areas. ”