Irish Retail Sales, Residential Property Prices Fall In January

 Ireland's retail sales decreased in January, after rising in the previous month, data released by the Central Statistics Office showed Tuesday.

Retail sales volume declined a seasonally adjusted 3.7 percent on a monthly basis in January, reversing the 2.5 percent increase recorded in December.

Year-on-year, the volume of sales edged down 0.8 percent in January, after gaining 3.1 percent in the previous month.

In value terms, seasonally adjusted sales dropped 3.7 percent month-on-month in January, following December's 2.7 percent rise. Annually, retail sales dropped 0.3 percent during the month, reversing the previous month's 3.3 percent increase.

Separately, the agency said Ireland's residential property pries decreased 1.9 percent month-on-month in January, faster than the previous month's 1.7 percent fall. House prices dropped 1.8 percent sequentially, while prices of apartments fell 4.3 percent during the month.

Year-on-year, overall residential property prices declined at a faster rate of 17.4 percent in January than the previous month's 16.7 percent fall.