The report, which relates to the last quarter of 2005, takes an interesting look at the property market from a micro point of view, and thus it emerges that homes with microwaves earn 5 more rental income per month than homes without!

But what's interesting and different about this property report is that it recognises the importance of looking at the local factors which influence particular markets.

For example, we can see by the detailed breakdown of the figures provided that, while homes in the leafy suburbs of south Dublin appreciate at a much greater level than homes elsewhere, city-based property actually offers the best rental yields, while investment property in south Co Dublin offers the poorest yields.

"Buyers may be willing to pay a lot more for the southside suburbs, if it's going to be their family home. They're willing to pay a premium to be near a good school, and in a sense buying a home there has a certain 'conspicuous consumption' value, but when it comes to renting, people prefer to be near the city, and that's where rental yields are best, " says Austin Hughes, chief economist with IIB Bank, who provided the analysis for the Daft. ie Report.

"This survey provides a very clear picture and some particularly helpful detail on what is a very healthy housing market in Ireland at present. But the regional breakdown of house price trends suggests that even in a generally buoyant market, variations in local demand and supply growth are important, " adds Hughes.

The report illustrates that growth in house prices accelerated towards the end of 2005 and this has continued to grow for the first two months of 2006.

Properties in Dublin city are on average over 60% more expensive to buy than those in the surrounding counties, and Dublin is the fastest place to let in Ireland with a Time-To-Let of just 9.8 days, while people looking to rent their property in Limerick can expect a TTL of 22.3 days, the slowest place in Ireland.

Properties in Limerick sold for approximately 60,000 less than similar properties in Cork and Galway.

Rents in the main cities and Dublin commuter counties are rising steadily . . . but outside these regions rents continue to fall slowly. Cork city currently has the fastest growing rents in the country. The average rents all over the country are now at their highest point in over three years, following a slight slump back in 2002.

The breakdown in figures makes for interesting reading for renters also, with the report detailing the cost of a room in shared accommodation varying greatly throughout the country.

For example, the most expensive shared accommodation is in Dublin city centre, where a single room will set you back around 450 a month, compared to just 398 in south Dublin city and 360 in the north city. A room in west Dublin costs on average 311 per month, while in Limerick, monthly rent for a room is just 224.

The report also claims that maturing SSIA accounts should act as a major support for the property market. Ireland's population profile is also a big factor, boosting the property market, with numbers in the key 25 to 34 age group increasing at almost 5% a year, compared to other European countries, where numbers in the household formation age group are growing by just onequarter per cent.

"Since we set up our business in 1997, we've been collecting data about the whole market, " says Brian Fallon, cofounder, with his brother Eamonn, of Daft. ie. "We don't just want to repeat what other reports say about house prices in Dublin and outside Dublin.

We want to look at property from a detailed point of view, so that we can say "houses in this area of Dublin should get a certain rent, compared to another area. We want to be able to analyse rental yields for two, three, four and five-bed properties in different areas, " he says, adding that they hope to offer even more detailed reports in the future, breaking down figures according to post-codes.

Since first setting up in 1997, Daft. ie has grown hugely, becoming Ireland's biggest property portal with over 30,000 properties available for sale and rent at any one time.

The site delivers 25 million pages of properties every month, with over 1.2 million visitors.

"When we started out, our aim was to be a friendly website where young people could find accommodation to rent easily, either apartments or houses to rent or just a room in a house. But as the years went by, our initial client base aged and were ready to move on from renting to buying their own place, which is why we decided to branch out into selling as well as renting, " says Eamonn Fallon.

But has Daft. ie felt any repercussions from the recently launched myhometolet. ie website?

"No, we haven't been affected, " he says.

"The myhometolet. ie website doesn't have as wide a choice of properties to let. And basically, it took us so long to build up trust with the landlords and win them over from the Evening Herald that I don't think they'd move so easily again, " adds Brian Fallon.

DAFT FACTS

The most expensive place to buy property is in south Co Dublin.

Properties in north Kildare are on average 100,000 more expensive than similar properties in south Kildare.

Smithfield in Dublin 7 recorded the fastest growing rents at 16%, followed by Ranelagh in Dublin 6 at 9.3% and Blackrock, Co Dublin at 9%.

The most expensive property to let in 2005 was a "ve-bed house on Ailesbury Road in Ballsbridge, where the rent was 15,000 per month ( 180,000) per year.

Detached houses sell for an average of 75,000 more than semi-detached, while terraced houses sell for 30,000 less than semis.

Three-bed properties in Dublin city centre currently command the highest rental yields at 5.6% The typical new mortgage on a three-bed in Dublin north city costs around 1,673 per month, compared to 1,787 in the south city.