Only a tiny minority of homes in the capital have not appreciated since May 2013 by more than €50,000

The huge disparity in valuations for Local Property Tax purposes is revealed in figures showing that a third of homes were given a value of less than €100,000.

More than half of all homes in five counties - Longford (64pc), Leitrim (61pc), Roscommon (57pc) Cavan (54pc) and Donegal (53pc) - fall into the lowest Local Property Tax (LPT) band.

Conversely, in the country's most affluent county - Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown in south Dublin - just 4pc of homes fall into this category, but 56pc are valued at more than €300,000.

There is no detailed breakdown on where these high-end homes are located, but upmarket suburbs, including Dalkey, Killiney, Stillorgan and Dundrum, are likely to be home to many.

Unsurprisingly, Dublin and Wicklow have the highest percentage of expensive properties in the State.

After Dún Laoghaire, the next highest proportion is in Fingal (19pc), Dublin City (17pc) and south Dublin (16.5pc).

Some 13pc of properties in Wicklow fall into this category. No other county has more than 6pc.

Homeowners were expected to assess the value of their own homes on May 1, 2013 for the purposes of the tax.

An analysis of LPT returns produced for Finance Minister Michael Noonan suggests that homeowners in Dublin would be worst hit if a national revaluation took place now.

According to the Central Statistics Office, prices have risen nationally by 26pc since May 2013, but this masks profound variation across the regions.

The lack of homes under construction and coming onto the market is most acute in the capital, where prices have rocketed by 41pc since May 2013.

And as the 'Review of the Local Property Tax' report notes, just 14pc of all households in Dublin would not pay any more property tax.

Only a tiny minority of homes in the capital have not appreciated since May 2013 by more than €50,000.

But 31pc would move by at least one band and 33pc by two.

One in 12 would move by three bands and one in 10 by between four and six.

The vast majority of homeowners, who bought relatively modest starter homes valued at between €350,000 and €400,000 - or 83pc of the total - would move three bands or more, indicating a price rise of at least €150,000.

This would result in the annual LPT bill rising from €675 a year to €1,125, an increase of €450, or 66pc.

Conversely, outside of Dublin, far fewer people would be affected by a revaluation. This is because prices have risen by just 14pc.

For 61pc of homeowners, that means no change in the LPT bill. Some 37pc would move one band and just 2pc between two and five bands.

A breakdown of LPT bands shows that of 1.8 million household that are eligible to pay the LPT, 578,000 fall into the lowest band and are valued at up to €100,000.

Another 1.1 million are valued between €100,001 and €300,000, while the remaining 157,000 are valued at more than €300,001.

Irish Independent