For those who can take the plunge, where and how should they do it?

According to the IPAV report, prices in D4 have fallen by €150,000, or 12.24pc, to bring the average cost of a home from €1,375,000 to €1,225,000.

Three-bed semis in the same area saw a drop of 2.07pc, to bring the average price down by €20,000 to €967,500.

Other postcodes where values have fallen include Dublin 15, Dublin 14, Dublin 6, Dublin 1 and Dublin 3.

Mr Davitt said that "in some of the areas that we see the biggest drops, we see supply coming on the market".

In contrast, eight areas around the city saw price increases for four-bed semis. The strongest house price inflation was in north county Dublin, which includes property hotspots such as Malahide and Howth. Prices here rose by 9.75pc to an average of €499,000 for a four-bed semi.

Outside Dublin, house prices in many areas are still rising sharply, but most notably in the wider commuter belt counties, signalling that house hunters are moving further out to get value for money.

The largest price rises for four-beds were recorded in the commuter belt counties of Laois (an 18pc increase to €213,334 for a four-bed semi), Kilkenny (14pc up on the latter half of 2017, at €270,000 for a four-bed), Wexford (up 9.7pc to €206,667) and Offaly (9.4pc rise to €231667).

Director of research for Savills John McCartney said: "In a sense, there is nothing unexpected happening. Strong house price inflation will slow further in the year, we think it will be at 5-6pc by the time we get to the end of the year."

Sunday Independent