Irish house prices were the fastest rising in the European Union last year, according to new figures published on Wednesday.

Data from Eurostat, the European Union’s official statistics body, shows Ireland’s house prices were 16.3 per cent higher in the last quarter of 2014 than in the same three-month period a year earlier.

Malta was responsible for the second fastest house prices last year after Ireland at 11 per cent. Sweden, Estonia and the UK round-up the top five countries in terms of fastest house prices with all showing double digit increases.

The estimates show that the rate at which Irish house prices increased was by far the fastest in the EU last year. However, the rate of increases was seen to slow as the year passed, falling from being up by 6.8 per cent in the second quarter to 6.2 per cent in the third quarter and 3.8 per cent for the final three months of 2014.

The average house price in the EU last year rose by 2.6 per cent. In the euro zone, house prices increased 1.1 per cent.

The largest annual falls were recorded in Slovenia, Cyprus, Latvia and Italy.

The highest quarter increases in the EU in the fourth quarter were in Malta, Ireland, Slovakia and Luxembourg with the biggest falls recorded in Latvia, Lithuania and Cyprus.