Irish house prices have recorded their first annual rise since the crash that crippled the country's economy in 2008 and led to its €85bn (£73bn) bailout two years later.
Residential property prices across the country increased by 1.2% in June compared with the same month last year the central statistics office said. It was the first rise since January 2008.
Prices of Irish homes have fallen on average by 50% since the crash, losing almost 20% of their value in 2009 alone, leaving tens of thousands of households deep in negative equity from which some may never emerge.
The collapse sparked huge losses in the country's banks, forcing the government to inject tens of billions of euros in capital and leading to the bailout of the state by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
Prices in Dublin were 4.2% higher than a year ago, while properties in the rest of the country grew only 0.7%. Analysts say the split between the performance of urban and rural properties is even more dramatic.
The news comes after data last month showed the country had fallen back into recession for the first time since 2009, a blow to hopes the economy can grow fast enough to eat into Ireland's huge debt pile.
While weak exports have dragged down growth in recent months, the domestic economy has proved a little more resilient, with unemployment hitting a three-year low of 13.6%.
Most economists still expect the economy to record a third year of growth in 2013 and outperform most of its rivals on the eurozone periphery, according to a Reuters poll, and Ireland is widely expected to exit its EU-IMF bailout in December.
