We’ve turned the corner.

Now what?

Fitch’s London-based mortgage analyst Sanja Paic said recent price rises in Dublin were “unsustainable” in the long term because they are driven by a lack of supply that will prove temporary.

The number of homes for sale in Dublin is around 24pc below the level seen even in 2012, she said. The number of homes being built is still a fraction of the peak, she added.

One factor anticipated to put downward pressure on prices will be a sharp rise in the number of homes being repossessed, she said in a conference call with investors, analysts and the media yesterday.

Fitch said one in five houses where mortgages had been in arrears for three months or more was likely to be repossessed…as many as 26,000 properties, including buy-to-let properties and actual family homes, could be seized by the banks.