DUBLIN, Ireland: Average apartment and house rents in Ireland increased by 82 percent in the past 12 years, while house prices jumped 55 percent, according to figures compiled by Eurostat.

The Irish figure compares with EU average rent increases of 18 percent between 2010 and the second quarter of 2022.

Further, the Eurostat report said Ireland's housing supply would have to increase substantially to slow soaring prices.

Eurostat reported that there was "significant" growth in mortgage drawdown values this year the highest value for the July-September period since 2008.

The report also noted that in the 12 months to September, more than 50,000 mortgages valued at over €13 billion were drawn down by 18 percent in volume and 30 percent in value, compared with the previous 12-month period.

"The fall in the purchasing power of households caused by higher housing and general living costs, as well as the future uncertainty in the wider economy, are likely to affect mortgage demand in the short term," said Dr Ali Ugur of Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, as quoted by breakingnews.ie.

"However, the significant gap between average rents and average mortgage payments in Ireland, coupled with significant latent demand, are likely to balance any negative impact on demand for mortgage lending in the short term, which can continue to impact housing costs unless supply increases substantially."

Also, Banking & Payments Federation Ireland's chief executive Brian Hayes noted, "The average first time buyer monthly mortgage payment was just over €1,000 during the first half of 2021 compared with the average monthly rent of over €1,400 at the national level, with the gap being significantly higher in Dublin," as reported by breakingnews.ie.

"We have seen significant price inflation globally and mainly in advanced economies, particularly since the start of the pandemic. However, we can see that prices are rising faster in Ireland than in the EU average."

The report also took note of Ireland's population increase between 2011 and 2022, as the population increased by over half a million people while housing output grew by 130,000 units.

While some 27,400 housing units were started from September 2021 to 2022, there has been a further drop in the annual building of housing.

"Commencement figures of new housing in the first nine months of 2022 were 5.4 per cent higher than in the same period of 2019," Hayes said.

"However, we see that the commencement activity seems to be declining on an annual rolling basis after peaking at 35,000 units during the first quarter of 2022 to some 26,600 units in October 2022," he noted.